Where's the Outrage?

(We’ve been fighting wars for a long time. Above is an image from the Battles of Lexington and Concord in 1775).

Memorial Day is Monday, May 26 this year. In honor of this special day, I’ve decided to share some history of and links about Memorial Day.

Memorial Day began in 1868, when Union General John A. Logan designated a day in which the graves of Civil War soldiers would be decorated.

Known originally as Decoration Day, the holiday was re-named as Memorial Day within twenty years and became holiday dedicated to the memory of all war dead. In 1971, the Federal government recognized the holiday and is now observed on the last Monday in May.

Here is a much more detailed explanation.

(This representation of a disagreement between Tecumseh and William Henry Harrison is a reminder that sometimes U.S. troops were called upon to do harm to the native population. Tecumseh died in the War of 1812).

Here is a list of minor and major wars in American history.

Here are numbers of American dead and wounded in our wars.

Here is the article that broke the story of mistreatment of veterans at Walter Reed Hospital.

Here is the Veterans of Foreign Wars home page.

Here is the body count from Iraq. This orgization counts the number of Iraqis killed in our most recent war. All people have equal value.

Both a strong military and a strong resistance against going to war are important aspects of democracy.

Here is the activist group Peace Action.

Here is a list of Medal of Honor winners for great bravery in American wars.

Here is information on women in American wars.

Here is Hispanic War Veterans of America.

Here is a tribute to Native American veterans.

Here is the National Association of Black Veterans.

(Henry Hulbert, below, was a winner of the Medal of Honor).

Here is information on the Revolutionary War.

Here is information on the War of 1812.

Here is information about the Civil War. (Photo below is of dead Union solider.)

Here is information on World War I.

Here is information on World War II.

Here is information about the Korean War.

Here is information on the Vietnam War.

Here is information about the War in Iraq.

Here in an article from Salon about possible American war crimes in Afghanistan and Iraq.

War crimes take place in all wars and are committed by all sides. It is not a contradiction to acknowledge this fact and still respect the great majority who served honorably. At the same time, it is disrespectful to the idea of democracy and human rights to ignore these facts.

Below is a portion of that Salon article:

More than 100 veterans gathered in a Detroit hotel in early 1971 to talk about things they had seen and done in the Vietnam War. Called the Winter Soldier Investigation, the group spoke about a horrifying array of allegations: convoys driving over civilians; burning of villages; bodies thrown out of helicopters; torture, mutilation and infamous “free-fire zones,” where anyone not wearing a U.S. uniform could be killed.

Thirty-seven years later, more than 100 veterans will gather over the next several days for “Winter Soldier: Iraq and Afghanistan.” The event is designed to be another purging of the horrors of war, and another effort to put American military policy on trial in the public eye. The gathering this time, at the National Labor College outside Washington, D.C., is sponsored by the group Iraq Veterans Against the War. “Soldiers will certainly be testifying about their experience and observation of actions which are absolutely in violation of international law,” says IVAW spokesperson Perry O”Brien, who served as an Army medic in Afghanistan in 2003.

The National World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C. is excellent to visit.

I also recommend the Korean War Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. as well as the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

I called my father from the Korean War Memorial and asked him about the historical accuracy of how the troops were sculpted. He said based on my descriptions, it was an accurate portrayal (Photo below).

I’ve been able to visit Punchbowl Cemetery in Honolulu. Many of our dead from wars in the Pacific are buried here. This is one of the most important and impressive locations you can visit in Honolulu.

I’ve also visited Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery in San Diego.

I once toured the Normandy American Cemetery and Monument near Omaha Beach in France.

Below is Arlington National Cemetery. I was fortunate to once visit Arlington on Memorial Day weekend and see the American flags at each gravestone.

Without people willing to die to protect the freedom of others, I would not be able to express my views in this blog post. Without such people, none of us would be able to enjoy the day-to-day freedoms we often take for granted.

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