I won’t wish you a happy Memorial Day.  There’s nothing at all happy about remembering mostly young men and women, who who have sacrificed their lives in the service of this nation.  Honoring them is a solemn occasion.  I add to their number two students from Jackson State, four students from Kent State, and others who were killed opposing war, whose deaths were covered-up.  Their service is equally worthy of honor.

Although I have opposed the wars in my lifetime, I fully believe that while hating the war, we must cherish the warriors.  Politicians, and we who elect them, are at fault for criminal wars, not the soldiers.

While some Veterans groups try to use this holiday to focus our attention on them, but this is not their day.  We have Veterans Day to honor their service, but let me close with a message for veterans this Memorial Day: Thank you for being good enough at your job that you came back, and in so doing, saved us the pain of honoring your loss.

Here in the US, May Day is so generic that it isn’t even an official holiday.  Nevertheless, many people do celebrate it for a variety of reasons.  Happy May Day to you!  Whatever your reason for celebrating the day, I wish you the best.

According to Info Please:

May 1st, often called May Day, just might have more holidays than any other day of the year. It’s a celebration of Spring. It’s a day of political protests. It’s a neopagan festival, a saint’s feast day, and a day for organized labor. In many countries, it is a national holiday.

Click through for more about how people celebrate the day.

Personally, I tend to focus on the political aspects of the day.  Amy Goodman of Democracy Now has offered a video presentation in three parts on the history behind the day.

This show aired in April 2006.  So bear in mind, it does not even take into account the Republican reaction to a black president or their extreme assault on labor.  That makes the history all the more relevant for today.