MIA: The Spirit of the Holiday
Here’s a test question. What do you call the major holiday that happens early this month? If you answered “the 4th of July,” you’re probably among the majority of people who answered the same way. If you answered “Independence Day,” Then you fit into the category of Potential Patriots. Now ask the same question to your friends and family, and you may be surprised at how many have forgotten – or never have learned – the real meaning of this important national day of observance. I’ll go a step further and propose that most of the community has also let it slip. On the other hand, would you refer to Christmas Day as the 25th of December, or to Hallowe’en as the 31st of October? I’m not trying to be a Civics Snob or a Patriotic Perfectionist, just wondering how far we’ve strayed from Independence Day’s original intent.
“Back in my day” is probably the most hackneyed and overused phrase in the Senior Lexicon. It implies that we not only did things differently back then, but we did them better. So, do you believe that applies to the celebration of national holidays? Among my senior acquaintances, many of them veterans, I could probably make the case that their opinions generally bemoan the loss of patriotism, along with the rise of three- and four-day holidays, which have turned into excuses for the post office and banks to close. (Aside: do you wonder why the Postal Service goes well into the red every year?) Holidays have lost, we tend to believe, the original intent of the founders, whether it be civic or secular. We all applaud the enhanced opportunities for travel, cookouts and just veggin’ out. And we also remember, with mixed emotions, the times when we worked straight through the holidays, because the job always came first. And how we envied the government workers, who would clamor for ever- more paid holidays, because (they said) we wanted to observe the holiday in a proper and respectful manner. Yeah, and I’ve got some playa-front land for sale cheap.
I’ll go out on a limb and state that the main differences between the “old days” and today, in terms of our holiday observances, were mainly economic, but only because of the lack of disposable income we had, which severely curtailed the party aspect of our celebrations. In the 1940s we didn’t have the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the DAV, and maybe only the earlier iteration of the American Legion. These organizations today tote the load of patriotic observances for many, if not most, of our smaller cities and towns. Local police departments, the National Guard and other such organizations consider it their civic duty to provide security service at local events. They march in parades, dedicate and maintain patriotic monuments, and generally act as the public’s representatives at patriotic remembrances. It’s worth observing at this point, that “back then” we didn’t have nearly as many reasons to display our patriotism. World War II ended in 1945, when I was a half-grown boy. Since then we’ve had Korea, Vietnam, Kuwait, Iraq, Panama, and Afghanistan to run through our patriotic filter. How many of these disastrous excursions have contributed to our love of country? So if one’s reference points consist of the last fifty years’ wars, who could blame the younger generation for developing a cynical attitude toward the patriotism that we used to consider as almost sacramental.
With brevity as my guide, I’d just like to say that 1941 and Pearl Harbor gave us about the last real impetus to emerge from isolation and become the leader of the free world. Yes, we were patriotic back then, and it was damn well earned the hard way. Every observance of related holidays (Pearl Harbor, VE and VJ days) had real-time meaning for us, and we fervently attended services for our dead, observance of major victories, and the realization that the world was
grateful to us for having re-awakened the values of liberty. Love of country, along with tremendous delayed gratification, were the driving forces behind our recovery. So what I’ll remember is going to Independence Day parades and fireworks displays, speeches by important civic personalities, and the President’s annual messages of faith, hope, and pride for a job well-done, but still in progress. I’ll still wear my uniform at patriotic events, but it doesn’t seem to have the same meaning these days.
George Thatcher, 2022 Quo Vadis, America
George is an American Bad Ass. He grew up in Jersey, flew B-52s in Vietnam, taught English, Spanish and other languages to children around the world, makes his own salsa, has been known to enjoy a beer or two and has called Lubbock home for a few years, just to entertain the locals. Welcome to Raiderland, Major. We are going to feature some of his writings going forward. Some new, some old. Some rhyme, some don’t. When it comes to George, there’s no box. So… enjoy our friend and enjoy his writings! – Hyatt
