“A Time to Honor Those We Lost?””
By Edward Blanchette
Before I begin this segment of our publisher’s message, I wanted to state that here at Amish Country News, we attempt to bring to mind certain subjects that affect the communities we report on, be it Amish, Mennonite, or English, without injecting politics into those stories. My attempt is to do the same with this publisher’s message in keeping within this tradition, while honoring – in my opinion – one of our most respected holidays we have, in our list of holidays.
I wanted to take a moment and reflect on a pastime in our country, which our beloved America has celebrated since May 30, 1868, Originally called Decoration Day. After World War I, the holiday was expanded to honor all American war fatalities. The name “Memorial Day” became more commonplace after World War II, thus solidifying this solemn & surreal holiday in our democracy. But the federal government didn’t officially adopt that name until 1967. The Uniform Holidays Bill of 1968 moved the holiday to the last Monday in May.
Other than the story we were honored to share with you in this issue, I’m sure there are many families that have had family members who served our country in uniform. And for those that were lost but never forgotten, I salute them. It’s not all about parades & cookouts. In my family, specifically speaking, I have had multiple family members who served and represented our country in uniform in the Army, Navy, Marines, and Airforce. If not before, but certainly during and after WWII to present day. Both male & female, through multiple campaigns of service, including my own stint in the Navy decades ago, when I was a much younger lad.
Recently, four young American Army soldiers were lost in Lithuania during a training exercise. For those young American soldiers that were tragically lost, we salute their ultimate sacrifice. But I also wish to recognize the Lithuanian People, as they went above and beyond in honoring our fallen soldiers, more than even our own people & government thus far to date. It brought tears to my eyes to see how they went out of their way to thank our own troops for their ultimate sacrifice, as they served abroad for the protection of Democracy. Not just for America, but around the world.
For all those families that have lost a service members, be they in times of turbulence or training, we thank them for their service to our country and salute them, always.