Which, since 2000, is apparently supposed to happen at 3pm on the holiday, a change made to the tradition that I didn't know until looking for Memorial Day related links for today's post.
While I don't want to participate in all the "bbq shaming" that seems to be super prevalent this year on social media, spending 60 seconds in a moment of silence does seem to be the smallest of concessions for those who gave their lives. And for those who *continue* to give their lives, as Brecht's Mother Courage and those who have read her know all too well, the business of war is ever present ... evidenced in both the continued conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan AND in the all too high suicide rate for those soldiers returning haunted by what they've seen.
It's a somber moment indeed ... but that's precisely the point. So to the 1,354,664+ war related US casualties (according to the wonder that is the Wikipedia [and with a heavy emphasis on the +, since war kills more than soldiers]), at least for sixty seconds at 3pm today, you will be missed.
STOP WHAT YOU'RE DOING AT 3pm TO PARTICIPATE:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/causeintegration/2015/05/24/memorial-day-3pm-dont-forget/
THESE CHARTS ARE ONGOING:
http://icasualties.org/
AS ARE THE WAR-RELATED DEATHS:
http://stopsoldiersuicide.org/help-soldiers/
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