Happy Military Appreciation Day
by Laurence M. Vance
The Fourth of July is supposed to be celebrated as American Independence Day – the day when the thirteen original colonies seceded from the British Empire and its oppressive taxation, spying, regulating, and attacks on due process (sound familiar?).
As John Adams wrote to his wife about celebrating the nation’s independence:
- The Second Day of July 1776 [the date the resolution of independence
was approved by Congress], will be the most memorable Epocha, in the
History of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated, by
succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary Festival. It ought to be
commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance by solemn Acts of Devotion to God
Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews,
Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of
this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more. You will
think me transported with Enthusiasm but I am not. I am well aware of the
Toil and Blood and Treasure, that it will cost Us to maintain this
Declaration, and support and defend these States. Yet through all the
Gloom I can see the Rays of ravishing Light and Glory. I can see that the
End is more than worth all the Means. And that Posterity will tryumph in
that Days Transaction, even altho We should rue it, which I trust in God
We shall not.
Military Appreciation Day Number 1 is Memorial Day. This holiday was first observed in honor of Union soldiers who died during the War to Prevent Southern Independence. It was initially called Decoration Day because the tombs of the dead soldiers were decorated. Originally celebrated in select localities, the holiday was first widely observed on May 30, 1868, because of an earlier proclamation by General John Logan of the Grand Army of the Republic, an organization of Union veterans. New York, in 1873, was the first state to officially recognize the holiday. After World War I, the holiday was expanded to include U. S. soldiers who died in any war. It is now just a day to honor all things military.
Military Appreciation Day Number 3 is Veterans Day. This holiday began as Armistice Day – a day to commemorate the signing of the armistice on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month that ended fighting on the Western Front in World War I, "the war to end all wars." A few years after World War II, the holiday was changed to Veterans Day as a tribute to all soldiers who fought for their country. Veterans Day has now become a day to honor, not just those who have served in the military during wartime, but those who have served during peacetime or are serving now. It is now just a day to honor all things military.
Independence Day is now wholly given over to praising soldiers, thanking veterans, reciting ridiculous slogans and poems about the military, and heaping glory, laud, and honor ad nauseam on the troops.
Nothing confirms this more than an e-mail that was forwarded around the country beginning the week before the Fourth of July. It begins:
- Happy 4th of July!.... Let’s get this started NOW! So it will be out
there on the fourth!
- For all of our other military personnel, where ever they may be.
- Please Support all of the troops defending our Country.
- And God Bless our Military who are protecting our Country for our Freedom.
- Thanks to them, and their sacrifices, we can celebrate the 4th of July.
- We must never forget who gets the credit for the freedoms we have, of which we should be eternally grateful.
- Please Support all of the troops defending our Country.
The three statements are followed by this poem:
- I watched the flag pass by one day.
- It fluttered in the breeze.
- A young Marine saluted it,
- And then he stood at ease.
- I looked at him in uniform;
- so young, so tall, so proud.
- With hair cut square and eyes alert,
- He’d stand out in any crowd.
- I thought how many men like him
- had fallen through the years.
- How many died on foreign soil;
- how many mothers’ tears?
- How many pilots’ planes shot down?
- How many died at sea?
- How many foxholes were soldiers’ graves?
- NO, FREEDOM ISN’T FREE!
- I heard the sound of Taps one night,
- when everything was still.
- I listened to the bugler play
- And felt a sudden chill.
- I wondered just how many times
- That Taps had meant ‘Amen.’
- When a flag had draped a coffin
- of a brother or a friend.
- I thought of all the children,
- of the mothers and the wives,
- of fathers, sons and husbands
- With interrupted lives.
- I thought about a graveyard
- At the bottom of the sea.
- Of unmarked graves in Arlington .
- NO FREEDOM ISN’T FREE!
- It fluttered in the breeze.
The poem was followed by these four statements:
- Enjoy Your Freedom and God Bless Our Troops.
- When you receive this, please stop for a moment and say a prayer for our servicemen.
- Of all the gifts you could give a U.S. Soldier, prayer is the very best one.
- Only two defining forces have ever offered to die for you. Jesus Christ and the American GI. One died for your soul, the other for your freedom. You might want to pass this on ... as many seem to forget both of them.
- When you receive this, please stop for a moment and say a prayer for our servicemen.
So, until Military Appreciation Day Number 3 comes around, happy Military Appreciation Day Number 2.
http://lewrockwell.com/vance/vance340.html --
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