The Political Voices of Women

Bloggers Remembering Memorial Day — by Catherine Morgan (cross-posted at The Care2 Election Blog)

I found this video at According To Nikki – Thank You To Our Brave Soldiers

The Evergreen Freedom Foundation would like to commemorate those who valiantly serve and have served our country.

More bloggers remembering Memorial Day…


From Sue at Nailing Jello to the Wall – Memorial Day: Did you know it did not originate with the Indy 500?

It’s another Memorial Day weekend — the pools are opening for the summer season, grills are on sale at Lowe’s, and we all get a day off from work today.

Yes, it’s yet another opportunity for Americans to take something solemn and serious, and turn it into a mindless party.

Indeed, try to wrap your head around this: with our economy in a shambles in large part because we are fighting 2 impossible wars, and with thousands of our soldiers dead because of those wars, our government has sent us an “economic stimulus” check — which merchants nationwide are encouraging us to spend this weekend on things we really don’t need.

So not only will we ignore the meaning of this national holiday, we’ll do so in comfort and frivolity — with a party!

If you’ve read this blog much at all, you know I’m an anti-war, peace lovin’ librul. But I do respect and honor those who have had to stand and fight. So please join me today, and stop for just a moment to remember those who have gone before us. There is a nice history of Memorial Day over at Wikipedia. Please don’t let the crass commercialism that is our national mood take over this day, which has truly honorable and solemn origins — read full post

Returning Meaning to Memorial Day…

Memorial Day is Monday. Some believe it shouldn’t be. While millions prepare to go to the beach or take a family picnic or just spend a day at the mall, veterans groups and others fret that the meaning of Memorial Day is lost amid the hubbub of a long weekend and the unofficial marker of summer. “Memorial Day is to honor those who made the ultimate sacrifice,” says Joe Davis, a spokesman for the Veterans of Foreign Wars. “Its meaning goes way beyond the three-day weekend.” He and others fear that Memorial Day has become nothing but a vacation weekend. But it didn’t use to be. – read full post

From Parent Dish – Remembering on Memorial Day

This Memorial Day, like nearly every since I’ve known him, my husband will buy a large bunch of flowers. He’ll round up our entire, sleepy-eyed family, load us all in the van for a short drive across town to the park with four bridges and three volleyball courts.

In addition to the bridges and fun, there are several monuments at the park. One is a wall that bears the names of every soldier in the state who died or vanished in Vietnam.

There is a larger-than-life statue of a soldier cradling a fallen comrade, looking off into the distance, far beyond the plastic slides and picnic grounds. The sculptor did an amazing job, the soldier’s gaze is one of determination, sadness, anger, pain and love all at the same time. It is haunting. Children can’t take it for long and quickly run to the nearby swing set, adults force themselves to linger.

Then there is the new statute, a bronze sculpture of a flak helmet resting on the butt of a machine gun propped between a pair of combat boots, the memorial for area sons and daughters lost in Iraq. The landscaping here is brand new. Ground cover will cloaks the dirt, but nothing can smooth out, still sharp pain.

From Anderson Cooper 360 — Observing Memorial Day in the middle of a Baghdad ER…

CNN’s Jill Dougherty spoke with Major Stephen Roberts, officer at the medical unit at Camp Liberty, Iraq (near Baghdad). Jill met him while filming a story on the soldiers who shaved their heads to raise money for children with cancer back home. She shares her latest conversation with Major Roberts about Memorial Day here…

The NonSilent Majority – A Veteran’s Day Tribute

From Blog Hillary – Statement From Hillary Clinton on Memorial Day

Obama Statement on Memorial Day

From CNN Political Ticker — John McCain spent Memorial Day focusing on his own military history, the war in Iraq and the debate over veterans’ benefits.