Memorial Day 2016

This is my first Memorial Day living in Chicago in the suburb of Warrenville. It is sad and uneventful. I have no grill to bbq on. Friends are busy. So I really just "bbq'd" my steaks and sausages on a frying pan. But I still did celebrate it with a few bottles of Bud Light.

There are two national holidays in the year that I absolutely must BBQ to celebrate and commemorate. These are Independence Day and Memorial Day. Independence Day to celebrate how we gained independence from being a colony of England. It marks the day where our path to being a great nation started. Memorial Day is how we got to being independent and how we continue to maintain the freedom which we enjoy. We remember everyone who served in all past wars and fought to for our values, freedom, and life we enjoy today in these United States.

Recently, in Facebook, there are posts criticizing Memorial Day BBQing and drinking. Some people use it as an excuse to do a cookout and go drinking to get drunk. I agree that this day should not be treated this way but rather revered. However, I disagree that we should not bbq and enjoy some beer on this day. This is not all-saints day to be somber and quiet. The people who sacrificed so much, I bet, did enjoy beer and grilling and would want us to do so. After all, this is what they fought for, our way of life, liberty, and freedom. I've consulted some of my veteran friends and they do cookout and drink beer but before doing so, they think about those who went before them and pour a couple for them. And that's how it should be, we remember them before we start celebrations. A prayer, a thought, some discussions, and an awareness of what was sacrificed for us to be enjoying this day.

For the past years, it's always been my tradition to watch war movies to remind me of this. My two favorite ones are; Saving Private Ryan, The Band of Brothers and The Pacific. Each viewing every year gives me a new or different perspective. As I watch them often, I understand what they fought and died for. It gives me a heightened understanding and appreciation the liberty that I am enjoying in the United States. It reminds me of the last line of Captain Miller from the movie Saving Private Ryan ... "Earn This.".

And so for all of us in the United States, we have the responsibility to "Earn This" from those who gave their lives for our freedom. To always be a good citizen of this country and to contribute to it's greatness all the time.