Memorial Day: A YouTube Challenge

My father is buried in the military cemetery at Fort Bliss, El Paso, Texas. My daughter placed flowers on his and Mama's grave site next to their tombstone. He died in 1968 and when my mother died in 1995, she was buried on top of my father.

As my daughter placed flowers on their grave site, she cried. Why? Because she grew up with a mother who understood the sacrifice her grandfather made in World War II where he served as a medic - a nurturer of his fellow fallen soldiers. She understood he had placed himself in harm's way to protect the country he loved - The United States of America.

In 1968 when Daddy died, there was dissent in our country, but nothing like I see today. There was differences in opinion, but not the vitriolic hatred I see and hear every time I turn on the television. People honored the position of the President, even if they disagreed with his decisions. And yes, there was racial tension, but I was proud to peacefully march with Martin Luther King, children in tow, for equal rights.

Today I hear little about the meaning of Memorial Day that squares with my knowledge of it. It appears to me that it is little more than a drinking holiday, a legal "day off" from work, or a day to become a couch potato watching television. And what do many see? Hatred!

I compare our country (where we still have far more freedoms than any other country) to North Korea where absolutely everybody loves their "Dear Leader" Kim Jong-il (son of demigod Kim Il-sung). He is adored and worshiped and is seen as the source of everything good. Little children, dressed in uniforms, sing songs of praise to him. Adults gush about him like he was an adoring father. He tells them what they can watch on television. He says "no internet" because he does not want them to know what's going on in the world outside. And do they mind? No! They have implicit trust for their "dear leader" and do not mind they have no personal freedoms at all. After all, their "dear leader" knows what's best for them, even what clothes to wear, books to read, and music to listen to!