As I reflect back over the long holiday weekend, I can still smell the delicious grill mixed with hints of sunblock, I hear children playing marco polo in the pool and baseball in the street, and see hundreds of flags flying proudly covering the neighborhood in red, white and blue. All of these thoughts invigorate my senses and bring forward memories of Memorial Days that have past. Although this holiday, much like 4th of July and Labor Day, has become one centered around family and friends get-togethers and out of town travel destinations, we must never forget why we are enjoying a anticipated three day weekend.
Memorial Day (via Wikipedia) is a United States federal holiday observed on the last Monday of May (May 31 in 2010). Formerly known as Decoration Day, it commemorates U.S. soldiers who died while in the military service. First enacted to honor Union soldiers of the American Civil War – it is celebrated near the day of reunification after the Civil War – it was extended after World War I to honor Americans who have died in all wars.
Yesterday I watched the Oscar-winning movie, The Hurt Locker. As I watched, my heart ached and my chest grew tense at the thought of what our men and women in service go through daily and give of themselves for the rest of us to be free in our beautiful country. Freedom of speech is one that I hold dearly to my heart. Having the ability speak freely (i.e. having this blog) about or thoughts and feelings of life and current events is a liberty that inspires creativity and communication in the corporate world. What would we do without it? In fact, my husband, who watched the movie with me, paused it and said to me, "Can you imagine if we had some other country infiltrating our streets and neighborhoods with guns, tanks, and soldiers?" What a profound question. Do we ever stop and ask ourselves this? Do we take for granted that there are U.S. soldiers abroad fighting a daily war for us so that we can walk in our own communities without restraint or fear?
This blog is not to say that we do take our freedom for granted, it just put it into perspective for me and thought it could make a insightful blog and for the Escoe Bliss team to say THANK YOU! Thank you to all of the men and women who train and fight for perfect strangers to have freedoms and rights and to their families who make sacrifices so we can have our BBQ's, backyard pool parties and public beaches, we are eternally grateful!
God Bless America!
Please feel free to leave a comment below on how your personal and corporate families celebrate and honor our country's heroes.
My family, extended and immediate, has emerged unscathed thus far from our armed conflicts over the last 50 years.
ReplyDeleteMy father returned from his war after flying B-24s in the Burma-India theater in WW2. I ran my year of eligibility for the draft during the Viet Nam conflict, shortly after the Tet offensive. I drew #125, they drafted to #75.
In January 2005 my son Caleb entered the U.S. Marine Corps. He now fights out of a forward patrol base in southern Afghanistan. His unit has lost 10 men since their deployment. Three of those drowned in a canal after a personnel carrier over-turned-- a loss particularly difficult to accept.
My son's deployment has personalized the courage, task-centered focus, suffering and potential loss accepted by our service persons and allies as a way of life.
I am grateful.
Craig A. White
Quality Systems & Reporting