MEMORIAL DAY 2011

Our summer season is bookended by Memorial Day and Labor Day.  First commemorated in honor of those Union soldiers who gave their lives in the Civil War, after World War I, the day was extended to Americans who died in all wars.  Memorial Day was once called Decorations Day on May 30, and became a three day weekend in 1971 by the action of the U.S. Congress.  Senators Dan Inouye and Dan Akaka have repeatedly introduced measures to return the event to May 30.

President Barack Obama of course paid honor to the fallen at the Arlington National Cemetery and there was that traditional concert on the Mall last night.  The Indianapolis 500 was yesterday and the Coca-Cola 600 stock car race occurs today in North Carolina.

Yesterday began my fourth year with the Huffington Post, and my peace articles have a special kind of relationship to this day.  As Senator Spark Matsunaga dedicated his life to peace, I, too, will continue my almost Man from Mancha-esque efforts to convince Barack Obama, Hu Jintao and Xi Jinping that they have a higher calling.

So pay your respects, in Hawaii with a lei (here Punchbowl, photo by Barry Vukkanuk), have a barbeque and appreciate freedom.  Peace need not necessarily come with the lost of lives.  There is a better way.