The three day weekend seems to be the new American tradition
and I and my daughter have very special plans. Unfortunately, the tradition
seems to be accompanied by a new one that calls for lots of social media
shaming. In various encounters I’ve seen individuals attacked for wishing a
“happy” holiday, which doesn’t properly honor or comfort the fallen. (Its never
affects me directly, as a Marine veteran from a double gold star family I’ve got
enough street cred to avoid that crap.) While the desire to remember veterans
on Memorial Day is good, public shaming on social media is a very shallow way
to do it and misses a very important point about freedom.
As I’ve discussed,
the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq as well as the continued efforts in the War on
Terror increasingly fall on small number of people and families. Unlike the
immediate aftermath of the mass draft in World War II and Vietnam, according to
sources less
than one percent of Americans currently serve in the military. This relatively heavy burden on a relatively
small population means that many Americans want to honor service men and women,
but don’t know how. This disconnect often forces people beyond praise into un
critical hero worship. Combined with a culture that often involves hi tech lynchings,
venting rants, and skewed realities based on social media, this sometimes lead
to people policing and shaming others for their apparent disrespect for the
military.
A true respect and value for the military would mean a
person researches and works hard to ensure service men and women are properly
trained, equipped, and deployed across the world. This true respect requires a
good deal of reading, research and thought, but very little social media
use. Facebook posts shaming others for
barbecuing on Memorial Day is a shallow and frankly pathetic attempt to honor
the troops. It’s like trying to fight terrorism by putting a French flag filter
on your Instagram profile, or trying to save kidnapped women by tweeting
a hast tag. More important than how somebody honors the troops, is having an
appreciation of the fundamental freedom for which the military fights. America is so amazing that it even grants the
freedom to its citizens to burn its flag. That freedom also includes not
honoring veterans on Memorial Day Weekend.
That is not particularly grateful behavior, but true freedom doesn’t
force people into honoring it or the soldiers that sacrificed for it.
With the holiday weekend arriving, I would remind those
tempted to shame others on social media for not showing sufficient respect,
that barbecuing and enjoying the holiday with family is a perfectly acceptable
way to use the freedom that so many fought for.
So feel free to celebrate the holiday weekend however you would like. Personally,
I enjoy the free hot dogs and soda at the local furniture store. I hope your celebration includes remembering
the fallen servicemen and women, but I hope even more that you take the time to
appreciate the freedom they fought for by spending time with your family in
peace.
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