The View From Here: Memorial Day more than '4-day party'

Call us "old fashioned." Call us "out of step with the times." Call us "old fogies." Call us what you will. But our younger generation is just becoming more and more uninformed.

In recent news articles, our high-school scholars could not find Washington, D.C., on a map, let alone some city in Germany, or even the more popular France.

Some couldn't find an Asian country if their life depended on it. Thank God that their lives do not depend on geographical locations. But it does help to know where a place is. They might just have to go there sometime in their lives.

We have just recently celebrated a wonderful holiday, Memorial Day. This holiday was originally known as Decoration Day in remembrance of those who died during the "war to end all wars," World War I. Before that, it was to remember those who died in the Civil War. My mother always called it Decoration Day, because that was the day we always made the long trip to the cemetery where my grandparents, aunts and uncles were buried, and Mom would put flowers on their graves and some of them would get little American flags. It wasn't too long afterwards, and I think, as I look back, after World War II, it became known as Memorial Day, and also a national holiday.

Before World War II, as a child, I can remember sirens echoing throughout our city for one minute, and we stood looking to the east, with our hand over our hearts, remembering and saying a prayer for those soldiers who gave their lives for us so we could have a better life. I bet you could ask any veteran what Memorial Day is or what it means to them, and they would give you an earful!

I read in the News-Press recently in "Voices On the Street," "What does Memorial Day mean to you?" The answer by one 13-year-old was, "I don't know any information about Memorial Day.

I don't know anything about it." And one answer by a 57-year-old, "I have no idea. Never thought of it." One person said, "It's party time. A four-day party weekend!" Wow! These were three of the answers by the five people asked!

Is this truly what our nation has become? Either uneducated or we just don't give a darn! I can only hope that some teacher or educator somewhere within the reaches of this newspaper will take the time to read this and inspire some insight in her/his pupils. For some, this may be just a small issue, to those of us who care, it may be monumental.

Think back to 9/11. Did you lose anyone on that horrific day? How about now, with our many service men and women losing their lives in a far-away country? Do you remember them in any special way? Let us all remember what Memorial Day is about! Maybe next year.