Happy Memorial Day - What're you remembering?

[curiosityandthecat]

Today is the day set aside for memorial. So, what is everyone remembering today?

Here's what I'm remembering today.

[Will]

I'm thinking about all the victims throughout the last 12,000 years of militarism.

[VanReal]

Even though I was in the Army myself, I always think about my dad on memorial day and the fact that he's probably sitting around thinking about all of his friends that he lost....this year I also am thinking about my friends and family that are making memorial day memories in Iraq.

[joeactor]

Great blog post Curio.

We have much in common.

I was fortunate enough that my Dad got to meet my wife (tho we're not having any kids).
She's also Asian, so I get the whole "clock" thing too ;-)

Today's about my Dad for me.  He served in WWII, and I know it changed him.  He was always a quiet, gentle man.  I have a hard time imagining what it must have been like to serve...

Kind of a cloudy day in LA, so we're heading to a movie, and having a relaxing afternoon.

JoeActor

[Caligula's Ghost]

Atheists in Foxholes

Giving respect where it’s due is a basic principle not only of etiquette but of just being a decent human being. On this Memorial Day, it’s especially appropriate to pay respect to the men and women of the military who have given their lives in service.

And it’s worth noting that, contrary to the cliched (and smugly anti-logical) platitude, there are indeed atheists in foxholes. It’s not impolite in the slightest to honor atheists who have given their lives in military service, or to correct people who wrongly try to co-opt Memorial Day into some sort of quasi-religious observance.

If you want to learn more about foxhole atheists, you can visit the Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers, or look at the Atheists in Foxholes Monument, or read this Newsweek article on the subject, or listen to one Army captain’s story.

And if you’d like to help atheists who are still alive, and still serving in the military, you might want to check out Operation Foxhole Atheists.
(Atheists in Foxholes Monument pic via Freedom From Religion Foundation)

http://atheistetiquette.wordpress.com/2009/05/25/atheists-in-foxholes/

[McQ]

Atheists in Foxholes

Giving respect where it’s due is a basic principle not only of etiquette but of just being a decent human being. On this Memorial Day, it’s especially appropriate to pay respect to the men and women of the military who have given their lives in service.

And it’s worth noting that, contrary to the cliched (and smugly anti-logical) platitude, there are indeed atheists in foxholes. It’s not impolite in the slightest to honor atheists who have given their lives in military service, or to correct people who wrongly try to co-opt Memorial Day into some sort of quasi-religious observance.

If you want to learn more about foxhole atheists, you can visit the Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers, or look at the Atheists in Foxholes Monument, or read this Newsweek article on the subject, or listen to one Army captain’s story.

And if you’d like to help atheists who are still alive, and still serving in the military, you might want to check out Operation Foxhole Atheists.
(Atheists in Foxholes Monument pic via Freedom From Religion Foundation)

http://atheistetiquette.wordpress.com/2009/05/25/atheists-in-foxholes/

I'll just say, "Ditto" to the above.  

[SektionTen]

I didn't think of much besides what I usually think. Maybe I'm selfish or something, but I don't really pay attention to holidays--at all. I haven't celebrated a holiday unless I get invited to a barbeque or something, though that's not really celebrating. I just don't pay attention...

[MommaSquid]

Today is the day set aside for memorial. So, what is everyone remembering today?

Great blog post Curio.

We have much in common.

I was fortunate enough that my Dad got to meet my wife (tho we're not having any kids).
She's also Asian, so I get the whole "clock" thing too ;-)
JoeActor

Great blog post, Curio.  I, too, am remembering lost loved ones today.  Not military men, but still very much loved and missed.

Add me to the list of members with Asian spouses!  My husband is Asian/Pacific Islander (from his father); his ethnicity is a curiousity to most people.  Depending on where we live, people's perception of his ethnicity differs.  When we lived in PA, people thought he was either Italian or Puerto Rican.  In GA and FL people thought he was Cuban.  In Arizona, people think he's Mexican or of some other Hispanic descent.   No one ever sees him as Asian; not even other Asians!  Weird, huh?  As for me, I just see him as the love of my life.

In addition to remembering relatives who have passed, I'm also cleaning my house.  That dust isn't going to clear itself.

[Jolly Sapper]

Honestly, I'm terrible.  I don't think much about it at all.

[Tanker]

In the time honered toast of the military the world over "absent friends" were on my memory today.