{"id":11603,"date":"2011-06-01T12:00:59","date_gmt":"2011-06-01T16:00:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.townehouse.net\/phoenix\/?p=95"},"modified":"2011-06-01T12:00:59","modified_gmt":"2011-06-01T16:00:59","slug":"how-memorial-was-memorial-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/townehouse.net\/?p=11603","title":{"rendered":"How Memorial Was Memorial Day?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/townehouse.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/memorial_day.jpg\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"1079\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/townehouse.net\/?attachment_id=1079\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/townehouse.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/memorial_day.jpg?fit=590%2C436&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"590,436\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"memorial_day\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/townehouse.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/memorial_day.jpg?fit=590%2C436&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-1079\" style=\"margin: 10px;\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/townehouse.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/memorial_day-150x150.jpg?resize=150%2C150\" alt=\"memorial_day\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/townehouse.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/memorial_day.jpg?resize=150%2C150&amp;ssl=1 150w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/townehouse.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/memorial_day.jpg?zoom=2&amp;resize=150%2C150&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/townehouse.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/memorial_day.jpg?zoom=3&amp;resize=150%2C150&amp;ssl=1 450w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><\/a>The grills have all cooled down, the hangovers are no longer hanging over, and most of us are back to work. However, since Memorial Day I have been wondering to what degree American\u2019s have given of themselves in order to be memorialize annually by too much alcohol and burnt burgers. And having The grills have all cooled down, the hangovers are no longer hanging over, and most of us are back to work. However, since Memorial Day I have been wondering to what degree American\u2019s have given of themselves in order to be memorialize annually by too much alcohol and burnt burgers. And having thus challenged myself, here are the results.<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p>Since 1775, 848,163 Americans have died in combat. Additionally, another 437,421 have died as the result of non-combat occurrences. That is a grand total of 1,343,812 Americans have given their life for our Country and yhour freedom. On top of that, 1,529,230 Americans have been wounded in war. And I think the bleakest statistic of all, even though the number is the smallest, is that 38,159 Americans are missing. The bulk of those (30,314) went missing in World War II. Can you imagine what it must be like to never know what happened to your loved one, to wonder forever if they are alive or dead?<\/p>\n<p>And then there are the often forgotten casualties of war. I don\u2019t have the numbers but there are countless orphans, widows, widowers, and grieving parents. Their sacrifice and suffering cannot be minimal zed. We give medals and honors to our combat heroes (as well we should) but maybe we should set aside a day to honor those who have lost loved ones. Something besides a folded flag.<\/p>\n<p>But what did they do for us except give us a reason to belch beer and burn our burgers? The obvious answer is freedom. Freedom from what? Freedom to do what? Define freedom? We are free to be ourselves. We are free to believe as we wish. People like Michael Moore are free to tear down this country that provides him the freedom to do exactly that, without fear of reprisal. I wonder how he spent his memorial day. We take our freedoms for granted. I think that we, as Americans, need to stop doing that. I think we need to take the time to realize exactly what we have and where we are and how fortunate we are to be able to live in a country that guarantees us these freedoms.<\/p>\n<p>The point is, let us not forget our war dead. Let is not forgot what they have provided for us by being willing to give all to ensure that the greatest country on earth stays the greatest country on earth. Every day should be Memorial Day. We should remember them every day for what they have given us. Once a year is not enough. But, we can eliminate the beer and burgers. I just don\u2019t get the connection.<\/p>\n<p>Those are my thoughts, what are yours?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The grills have all cooled down, the hangovers are no longer hanging over, and most of us are back to work. However, since Memorial Day I have been wondering to what degree American\u2019s have given [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12911,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_daextrevo_audio_file_creation_date":"","_daextrevo_text_to_speech":"","_daextrevo_document_type":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11603","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opinion"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/townehouse.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/THFI.png?fit=214%2C200&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":11809,"url":"https:\/\/townehouse.net\/?p=11809","url_meta":{"origin":11603,"position":0},"title":"Honor Our Heroes","author":"Tom Lind","date":"October 19, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"The Cincinnati Recreation Commission has signed off on plans to rename East Hyde Park Commons to Officer Sonny Kim Memorial Park. \u00a0 Officer Sonny Kim was shot and killed in the line of duty in Madisonville on June 19th of this year. I was very happy to see this happen\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Commentary&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Commentary","link":"https:\/\/townehouse.net\/?cat=13"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/townehouse.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/P1030333.jpg?fit=640%2C480&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/townehouse.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/P1030333.jpg?fit=640%2C480&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/townehouse.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/P1030333.jpg?fit=640%2C480&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1370,"url":"https:\/\/townehouse.net\/?p=1370","url_meta":{"origin":11603,"position":1},"title":"Memorial Day 2015","author":"Tom Lind","date":"May 22, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"In that this is Memorial Day Weekend, I can't help but wonder what people think of this day. To many, it is a \u201cthree day weekend\u201d and only means an extra day off. To others it means beer and hotdogs and picnics. I wonder how that happened. The name it\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Commentary&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Commentary","link":"https:\/\/townehouse.net\/?cat=13"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/townehouse.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/Memorial-Day.jpg?fit=1200%2C750&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/townehouse.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/Memorial-Day.jpg?fit=1200%2C750&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/townehouse.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/Memorial-Day.jpg?fit=1200%2C750&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/townehouse.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/Memorial-Day.jpg?fit=1200%2C750&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/townehouse.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/Memorial-Day.jpg?fit=1200%2C750&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":884,"url":"https:\/\/townehouse.net\/?p=884","url_meta":{"origin":11603,"position":2},"title":"National Police Week","author":"Tom Lind","date":"May 10, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"May 11-17, 2014 is National Police Week. For those of you who are not familiar with National Police Week, or Police Memorial Day, here is what it is all about. In 1962, President Kennedy proclaimed May 15th as National Peace Officers Memorial Day and the calendar week in which May\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Commentary&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Commentary","link":"https:\/\/townehouse.net\/?cat=13"},"img":{"alt_text":"download","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/townehouse.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/download-150x150.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":13513,"url":"https:\/\/townehouse.net\/?p=13513","url_meta":{"origin":11603,"position":3},"title":"Memorial Day","author":"Tom Lind","date":"May 31, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"On Memorial Day I feel compelled to tell the story of two of my cousins, both who tragically died in the service of their country. This is not a story of death in combat nor a story of bravery and heroism, not in the traditional sense. But it is a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Commentary&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Commentary","link":"https:\/\/townehouse.net\/?cat=13"},"img":{"alt_text":"img_mouseover3","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/townehouse.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/img_mouseover3.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":12023,"url":"https:\/\/townehouse.net\/?p=12023","url_meta":{"origin":11603,"position":4},"title":"Memorial Day &#8211; 2016","author":"Tom Lind","date":"May 30, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"On this Memorial Day I feel compelled to tell the story of two of my cousins, both who tragically died in the service of their country. This is not a story of death in combat nor a story of bravery and heroism, not in the traditional sense. But it is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Commentary&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Commentary","link":"https:\/\/townehouse.net\/?cat=13"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/townehouse.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/memorial-day-thank-you2.jpg?fit=618%2C434&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/townehouse.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/memorial-day-thank-you2.jpg?fit=618%2C434&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/townehouse.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/memorial-day-thank-you2.jpg?fit=618%2C434&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1339,"url":"https:\/\/townehouse.net\/?p=1339","url_meta":{"origin":11603,"position":5},"title":"What Were Their Names?","author":"Tom Lind","date":"May 9, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"If you took an informal poll of your friends and neighbors, or if you randomly stopped people for a \u201cman on the street\u201d interview and asked them if they had any idea who is Michael Brown or who is Eric Garner or who is Freddie Gray you would probably receive\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Commentary&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Commentary","link":"https:\/\/townehouse.net\/?cat=13"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/townehouse.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/LEMA-1.jpg?fit=641%2C426&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/townehouse.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/LEMA-1.jpg?fit=641%2C426&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/townehouse.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/LEMA-1.jpg?fit=641%2C426&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p38YRh-319","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/townehouse.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11603","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/townehouse.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/townehouse.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townehouse.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townehouse.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11603"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/townehouse.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11603\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townehouse.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/12911"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/townehouse.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11603"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townehouse.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11603"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townehouse.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11603"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}