"And, tell me which holiday celebrates those on active duty today?
You know, the people risking their lives so you have the right to put them down."
That would be Armed Forces Day, which in the US is the 3rd Saturday in May. It's not a federal holiday, but it has existed since the Truman administration. You might want to Google it.
Independence Day is supposed to be a celebration of the day we declared our independence from Britain. It was never intended to celebrate our military, past or present. If you want to celebrate the Military, you've got Veteran's Day, Memorial Day, and Armed Forces Day.
Independence Day is for the American people, not the military. We also don't need to specifically celebrate and honor the military on Labor Day, Thanksgiving, or Christmas.
We've gotten to the point where every national holiday - with the possible exception of MLK's birthday -has been co-opted by people who think we need to continuously thank our military. We don't need to do that - they get it and know we support them. I doubt that there's any veteran or active service member who has not tired of hearing the phrase "Thank you for your service".
You're a veteran, Rich - do people come up to you and say this? My older brother served in Vietnam and doesn't even want to talk about it - "Thank you for your service" for him is something that would dredge up memories he would rather forget. The US military does an incredible job, but all of our national holidays are not about them, and I doubt they would want them to be. |
