So this weekend is Memorial Day. Being the wife of a military man myself, I had to educate myself on the different holidays to celebrate the military. Memorial Day is not a day to thank soldiers or veterans for their service, it is a day to remember those who died in service to our country as well as their family and loved ones. So when I see people tagging every single veteran or soldier in their Facebook and saying ‘Happy’ Memorial Day, I really, really want to educate yell at those people and explain why that is so very wrong. Don’t get me wrong, I was doing it wrong for many years too, but now I make sure I do it right. I have a nice graphic that I will post at the end of this that explains the major holidays and what they are for.
I know that it seems kind of petty and honestly I would have agreed with you a few years ago, but honestly it is not. Trying to educate the general public that so many of their ideas about the military, specifically the Army are totally false is like trying to run up a hill with roller skates on. I answer questions on a daily basis about things such as they all get school for free. Yes, however, to be eligible to attend school, they first must be able to pass and continue to pass the PT (physical training) tests they are given, if they fail even one they are denied school. See, in the military school is a privilege not a right. Another question I get is that everything is free. No. No. No. I do not know how many times I have to explain it, No. Food comes out of their pay checks, uniforms, they get an allowance but it is not a generous one ( the allowance is only for active duty military, the National guard gets no allowances, so they get their uniforms free, as long as there is money in the budget for it.)
I will not be posting all this weekend in any of my blogs. I want to stay silent out of respect.
House of Chaos 