I wanted to take just a quick moment and talk about “Memorial Day.” I know I might be preaching to the choir, but many people fail to realize that Memorial Day was originally set aside to exclusively honor the fallen soldiers of our great nation. In fact it was officially proclaimed on May 5th 1868 by General John Logan, national commander of the Grand Army of the Republic, and was first observed on May 30th 1868, when flowers were placed on the graves of both Union and Confederate soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery. The first state to officially recognize the holiday was New York in 1873, hence Waterloo, NY was officially declared the birthplace of Memorial Day by President Lyndon Johnson in May of 1966. Since then the traditional observance of Memorial Day has diminished, as many Americans have now forgotten the meaning and traditions of this great day. To help re-educate and remind Americans of the true meaning of Memorial Day, the “National Moment of Remembrance” resolution was passed back in December of 2000, which asked that all American on Memorial Day at 3 p.m. local time, “Voluntarily and informally observe in their own way a moment of remembrance and respect, pausing from whatever they are doing for a moment of silence for those who have sacrificed their life for our great country.” I now it doesn’t get much air time with the press, but I thought I would make mention of it in today’s letter. Having a grandfather who served in WWII and a father who served in Vietnam, I was taught at an early age to be thankful for the freedom I have and the sacrifices that have been made by others on my behalf. Though my father never wanted to talk about his time their or discuss the subject, my mother let me see the letters he had mailed her on various occasions…by what I read in a few letters I can only imagine. My father simply said there was no reason to discuss the war, he only hoped neither I or my children would ever have to experience anything like it. He was 18 when left and 22 when he came back home, I have to believe a forever changed man. Below I have included a partial list highlighting the estimated number of Americans killed and or wounded while defending our freedoms. Take a moment and think about how your family has or would be impacted if your child didn’t return home. It’s staggering when you think about how families have been torn apart or splintered. It’s even more insane when I see how some individuals and groups chose to disrespect the very freedoms their forefathers gave their lives for:
• 1775-1783 American Revolutionary War – 50,000 Wounded / 25,000 Dead
• 1812-1815 War of 1812 – 20,000 Wounded / 15,000 Dead
• 1846-1848 Mexican-American War – 17,500 Wounded / 13,300 Dead
• 1861-1865 Civil War – 1,300,000 Wounded / 750,000 Dead
• 1898 Spanish-American War – 6,000 Wounded / 2,500 Dead
• 1898-1913 Philippine American War – 11,000 Wounded / 4,200 Dead
• 1917-1918 World War I – 320,000 Wounded / 117,000 Dead
• 1941-1945 World War II – 1,100,000 Wounded / 406,000 Dead
• 1950-1953 Korean War – 128,000 Wounded / 40,000 Dead
• 1955-1975 Vietnam War – 215,000 Wounded / 60,000 Dead
• 1990-1991 Gulf War – 1,200 Wounded / 300 Dead
• 2003-2011 Iraq War – 37,000 Wounded / 4,500 Dead
• 2001 – Present … War in Afghanistan – 20,000 Wounded / 2,500 Dead