Is this what we’ve come to?
Memorial Day: What it is, what it isn’t, and why you should care
How will you celebrate Memorial Day?
Like many Americans, you are likely to have a day off from work. You might go to the beach, party on your boat or have a cookout in your backyard with friends.
All this is certainly appropriate.
However, if you want to honor the day for what it is meant to be, you will attend a Memorial Day service hosted by your local military veterans’ organization to venerate the memory of the men and women who sacrificed their lives in service of our country and the freedom you enjoy.
Due to space restraints, I will not go into the history of Memorial Day, as there is ample information on the Internet, and you can research it yourself. Suffice it to say that the day is set aside to honor and commemorate all armed forces members who paid the ultimate sacrifice, i.e. those who died in our nation’s service in order to keep our country free.
It irks me that people don’t pay attention to the reason for Memorial Day. For example, one automobile dealership is honoring active and retired military by giving them a $4.95 oil and filter change during what they call Memorial Day week. First, there is no Memorial Day “week,” only Memorial Day. Second, it is not to honor active and retired military persons, but to pay homage to the deceased military members who died on the field of battle, and in the air and on the seas.
There are two other days set aside each year to honor those in service of their country, Veterans Day and Armed Forces Day. I have attended regularly these affairs and continue to be confounded by the misunderstandings of the public at large and some military service (veteran) organizations concerning the purpose of the events.
One example recently was a motorcycle group attempting to celebrate Armed Forces Day with a ride to honor veterans, including a ride to a national cemetery and the playing of Taps. Armed Forces Day is set aside the third Saturday of May each year to recognize, venerate and honor our current military forces, i.e. to honor the men and women serving our country in all branches of the U.S. Armed Forces, at home and around the world. It is not to celebrate veterans or memorialize the deceased. (By the way, there are few events that celebrate Armed Forces Day anymore, and, in fact, it is not even listed on many calendars.)
Another interesting example is a Veterans Day observance last year by a local group that publicized it as a memorial service. Obviously, they got it confused with Memorial Day. Veterans Day is a day set aside in November to honor all living veterans of the military services. This event is not a day to memoralize the deceased by a 21-gun salute and the playing of Taps, because living veterans did not give their lives, only their service, be it in war or peace time.
So, as you celebrate Memorial Day and, in November, Veterans Day, and next year, Armed Forces Day, remember the reason for each day. And if you belong to an organization that plans an event to celebrate these special days, please organize it with the proper purpose, and plan accordingly.
Robert A. Haines of Altoona, Florida, is retired from the U.S. Navy as a lieutenant commander in the Chaplain Corps.
Remember the fallen, 2
God is moving in these days. He’s been showing His people that to BE the church, you have to get outside your walls.
Recently, our church in McKinney ‘left the building’. One Sunday, rather than doing the same ol thing, the entire church, 2000+ people flooded the city to help the community in a myriad of ways. The idea took a life of it’s own… besides many of the planned events, groups creatively found places to minister in their own way.
Here’s the result:
Another clip of what one campus did for our heros:
This Memorial Day, as you enjoy your grill and a day of relaxation, pray for those working long hours in the hot desert, doing the job they were called for.
The King will reply, “I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.”
Matthew 25:40
Where have all the ballads gone?
I often explain to people that Japanese music today, ‘jpop‘, is what you would have if the 80s had been able to continue to evolve here in the US, rather than being abruptly brought to an end by the grunge movement. And in my opinion, the most detrimental crime brought about by the dramatic music shift of grunge was the death of that beautiful, plastic, aesthetic genre, the power ballad.
Power Ballads are generally designed to follow the basic ballad song formula:
verse, chorus - verse, chorus - bridge, solo, chorus - chorus
The simple major chord progressions and pleasing aesthetic productions are what I love about love ballads. Simple lyrics that don’t dig into politics, rebellion or hate… just dreamy music that makes you feel good is what I miss most in today’s R&B influenced music world. Some of the best examples of the mystical metal power ballad in my opinion are:
- Love Of A Lifetime - Firehouse | buy
- High Enough - Damn Yankees | buy
- Have You Ever Needed Someone So Bad - Def Leppard | buy
- Life Goes On - Poison | buy
- I Believe In You - Stryper (of course) | buy
to name just a few.
Although heavy metal power ballads were most prevalent at the demise of the decade, power ballads weren’t exclusive to heavy metal. Even today they prevail in Japan’s pop music scene. Here are a couple of examples of great Japanese power ballads:
Over and Over, by Every Little Thing
Mirai Yozoozu II, by Dreams Come True
Trivia question: What song was the heavy metal power ballad’s last hoorah? Leave a comment with what song you think it was, and I’ll post what I think it was in a few days…
Self-proclaimed youngest Stryper fan
Doesn’t this just put a smile in your heart?
And the children shall lead them…
