Memorial Day traditions?

well one Memorial Day tradition just got ruined.  The National Memorial Concert in Washington D.C.   Every year on the Sunday night before Memorial Day , the has been held for years in tribute to the men and women whom have served our country and given their lives for it.   They started the thing as usual and then 40 minutes in, they stopped it due to severe weather coming in the area.     

Was this storm not on any weather report before the concert began?  if it was, why did they not delay the concert before it started.  

Also,  they ended the thing.   No announcement of a postponement, no announcement of a rain date.   So it seems this major outdoors event that has been going on for years had no contingency plan in case of rain.  

way to pay tribute to our brave soldiers.   : (

I traditionally remember that many people on this forum don't do this sort of thing exclusively on the nearest Sunday to the 11th of November.

Which is a good thing.

People should think about how stupid war is as often as possible and having more than one "thinking about the victims of war" day spreads the message throughout the year.

Some statisticians and historians should get together and make a "war is stupid" counter and have it placed prominently at the front of every 'ministry of defense/war/peace' building and the UN HQ.

It should show the estimated price in lives military and civilian and the money spent both as an annual figure and as a general historical figure to shame those in power into putting more effort into finding a more civilised and less wasteful means of sorting out their differences of opinion.

Bingo, perhaps you should avoid commenting in threads on exclusive American holidays which you know very little about from now on.

Just a thought.

I just want to say thank you to all whom have served and those that still serve our country, especially those that given their lives for our country. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QwW_sN_KDDk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?annotation_id=PatrioticMusic_annotation_906179&v=Lgk_woLYN88&src_vid=QwW_sN_KDDk&feature=iv

God Bless America.

CP3S said:

Bingo, perhaps you should avoid commenting in threads on exclusive American holidays which you know very little about from now on.

Just a thought.

Even if Bingo was American, I would suggest his post is out of line.  If you are anti-war, fine, but keep it out of a remembrance of those killed in duty.

How are my comments out of line?

If the day is so exclusive that someone from another country can't possibly understand or comment on it I imagine there would not be a post about on a forum where anyone from anywhere in the world could read it.

Almost everyone working in the military is anti-war.

You'd have to be a very twisted individual to wish for war and for people to killed carrying it out.

Bingowings said:

You'd have to be a very twisted individual to wish for war and for people to killed carrying it out.

We don't wish for that. 

Bingowings said:

I traditionally remember that many people on this forum don't do this sort of thing exclusively on the nearest Sunday to the 11th of November.

Which is a good thing.

Memorial Day falls on a Monday, which is today,  not a Sunday.  We do this sort thing in November as well.   In our country, November the 11th is called Veterans Day.

Bingowings said:

People should think about how stupid war is as often as possible and having more than one "thinking about the victims of war" day spreads the message throughout the year.

first you say it is good that we do not do this sort of thing in November, but now you say there should be multiple days like this.   Which is it?

Warbler said:

Bingowings said:

I traditionally remember that many people on this forum don't do this sort of thing exclusively on the nearest Sunday to the 11th of November.

Which is a good thing.

Memorial Day falls on a Monday, which is today,  not a Sunday.  We do this sort thing in November as well.   In our country, November the 11th is called Veterans Day.

Bingowings said:

People should think about how stupid war is as often as possible and having more than one "thinking about the victims of war" day spreads the message throughout the year.

first you say it is good that we do not do this sort of thing in November, but now you say there should be multiple days like this.   Which is it?

You just answered your own question.

You have Veterans Day at around the same time as we have Remembrance Sunday which is also celebrated separately as Armistice Day (which is specifically focused on WWI where as Remembrance Sunday is a day for all the war dead).

There is now Patriot Day in America which is a specific day of remembrance for the dead of 9/11 attacks. like Trafalgar Day once was and Confederate Memorial Day is for those who observe that memorial day.

There are several Memorial days for the Holocaust.

The more days of remembrance the better.

Bingowings said:

Warbler said:

Bingowings said:

I traditionally remember that many people on this forum don't do this sort of thing exclusively on the nearest Sunday to the 11th of November.

Which is a good thing.

Memorial Day falls on a Monday, which is today,  not a Sunday.  We do this sort thing in November as well.   In our country, November the 11th is called Veterans Day.

Bingowings said:

People should think about how stupid war is as often as possible and having more than one "thinking about the victims of war" day spreads the message throughout the year.

first you say it is good that we do not do this sort of thing in November, but now you say there should be multiple days like this.   Which is it?

You just answered your own question.

huh?

My parents actually believe memorial days like these are actually about celebrating war. Talk about deluded!

that is the last thing memorial day is about.  

Warb.

I didn't say it was a good thing that it's not celebrated on the nearest sunday to the 11 November (I even can't imagine how you thought that).

I said I was reminded that it was different in America (because so many people posting on internet forums are Americans) and a few other places in the world.

Every Memorial Day there are threads like this on the various forums I occupy and I am reminded of the superficial cultural difference.

I said it was a good thing you had more than one day of remembrance and that the more days the better.

Dig?

greenpenguino said:

*sigh*

greenpenguino said:

TV's Frink said:

greenpenguino said:

*sigh*

 

+1

^THIS

Bingowings said:

How are my comments out of line?

If the day is so exclusive that someone from another country can't possibly understand or comment on it I imagine there would not be a post about on a forum where anyone from anywhere in the world could read it.

My point was, the things you said were extremely insensitive and showed a complete lack of understanding in what the day means to us as Americans. The stuff you said was kind of insulting and the fact that you don't realize why it might be perceived that way by us confirms that it was a cultural communication breakdown.

Not a big deal. I was just pointing out that you might want to think twice before posting flippant platitudes about holidays from countries other than your own, especially when they are holidays focused on remembering our dead loved ones who died fighting for us (whether or not they are misguided is a whole different discussion, and one that doesn't belong in a thread like this).

Warbler said:

first you say it is good that we do not do this sort of thing in November, but now you say there should be multiple days like this.   Which is it?

Warb, November 11th is Armistice Day in the UK. 

Nevermind, somehow missed Bingo's post where you already addressed that.

At no point did I question the integrity of the war dead.

The thread was about personal Memorial Day traditions.

If you do something every year it becomes a personal tradition and my personal tradition is noticing and thinking about the fact that the culturally allocated day for remembering the war dead is different in some countries.

It's not a shrine.

Is a discussion topic on an internet forum.

War itself is a sadly sometimes necessary but frequently wasteful and stupid exercise.

Saying that and suggesting that the people who send their fellow human beings out to die should give that more consideration is taking their tragedy seriously.

You're still missing the point. It doesn't matter and it is sad this thread be used for debating.

I think you are missing the point.

One of the originator of this threads traditions is to see an Astro's game.

The thread isn't about reverence for a day, it's about things people do most years on that day.

If someone's idea of a Memorial Day tradition was to play Call Of Duty that might be seen as a bit disrespectful but we thankfully have the liberty to both play that game and talk about it on an unmoderated internet discussion board.

Instead of beating me around the head why not talk about what you do on Memorial Day.

well, I've looking online and I've unable to find anything about a rain date for the Memorial Day concert.   I've got to say I think it is ridiculous, and perhaps disrespectful to the people they were supposed to being honoring, to not have a contingency plan in place in case of bad weather.   The event was outdoors in late May,  you have to know that thunderstorms are a possibility.  Lots of people put a lot of effort into getting ready for the concert,  lots of people probably traveled from all over the US to come to the concert.   Soldiers and Veterans and there families and the families of some who died in wars had come to hear their stories being told by the actors(something they do every year at the concert) didn't happen.   It seems to me that the organizers of the concert screwed royally.