VFW CORRESPONDANCE: MEMORIAL DAY

************************************** ************************************** ____________________________ ____________________________ NOTICE:  Please scroll down the page to read my response to the e-mail I received from the commander of the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States on Tuesday 07 May 2013.  For some odd reason, the text of the original e-mail will not fit within the page parameters of this blog, and thus, I recommend clicking on this LINK. ____________________________ ____________________________ Commander Hamilton, Et Alii: Just WHICH Memorial Day are you referring to? I refuse to observe the Monday federal holiday, preferring to observe the traditional Memorial Day of Thursday 30 May 2013. Every year at this time, I have to try and correct a major misconception about Memorial Day, i.e., Memorial Day is NOT the same thing as Veterans Day. Unfortunately, my attempts to enlighten my peers are almost always unsuccessful, because really, nobody cares. We should OBSERVE, not "celebrate", Memorial Day. On Memorial Day, we remember and honor our military dead. Note that in that sentence,  I specifically said, "military" dead. Families have three hundred and sixty-four OTHER days to put flowers on Granny's grave, but Memorial Day is a solemn military holiday that should be reserved strictly for honoring our military dead. Memorial Day is for the dead. Veterans Day is for the LIVING military veterans. On Veterans Day, it is appropriate to celebrate with parades, bands, barbecues, dances, balls, parties, et cetera. I don't know if there's a Tractor Supply Company in the area of Gulfport, Mississippi. Also, there's the racial elephant in the room that no one dares talk about. Is the local VFW post Black or White? The only photograph I've seen of a local VFW ceremony portrayed only Black members. No one will admit it openly, but having moved here from Washington, D.C., which is an all Black city, it is my experience that Blacks have a well deserved reputation for exhibiting overt hostility to Whites. While our indoctrinated contemporary society may regard it as"politically incorrect", the truth is that Blacks are more comfortable associating with Blacks, and Whites are more comfortable associating with Whites. Do you think our military service changed that fact? Remember all the racial violence we observed and/or experienced when we were on active duty? Do you think those harsh memories just magically disappear? Do we just pretend to ignore that, even today, there are parts of town where White people, for their own safety, dare not go? Strange, isn't it that Blacks are safe in a White neighborhood, but Whites dare not venture into a Black neighborhood? Since no White person is ever allowed to discuss this issue, the problem will just quietly simmer and fester and - - - ? Thank you. John Robert Mallernee  VFW "LIFE" Member 908355  Armed Forces Retirement Home  1800 Beach Drive, Unit 311 Gulfport, Mississippi  39507  __________________________ __________________________ ************************************** **************************************