I was thinking about our flag today and I remembered being in third grade. We got a new student that year who arrived from England.Each morning we said the Lord's Prayer together, then stood and saluted the flag and pledged our allegiance to it.
The teacher noticed that Sharon did not salute the flag. Afterwards, she called her out on that.
The new student's answer: "I'll NOT salute that flag! My flag is the Union Jack!", thrusting her chin upward in a defiant way towards the teacher. The teacher carefully explained to her that she now lived in OUR country and that she was expected to be a part of our traditions. There was some buzz about her parents being contacted by the school and Sharon joined in with her peers in saluting our flag forevermore.
Now, on to the present day: Memorial Day was originally called Decoration Day, as southern women were decorating graves before the end of the Civil War. Several places claim to be the birthplace of this holiday, so it remains in dispute. However, Waterloo, N.Y. was officially declared the birthplace by President Lyndon Johnson in 1966. Some southern states still have an additional separate day for honoring the Confederate war dead. In any case, the holiday is now celebrated on the last Monday in May. This was passed by Congress with the National Holiday Act of 1971 to ensure a three day weekend for Federal holidays. Some of you can actually remember that taking place. Before that, Memorial Day was observed on May 30th. A few years ago, the VFW stated in its Memorial Day address: "Changing the date merely to create three-day weekends has undermined the very meaning of the day. No doubt, this has contributed greatly to the general public's nonchalant observance of Memorial Day."
On the web, you can visit "Help Restore the Traditional Day of Observance" page for more information on the issue.
Until then, enjoy your cookout-- but remember that it is a special day to honor those who have given their lives in service to our country.
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