How Others View Obama's Memorial Day Outing

Barack Obama has played golf 70 times (Photo: AFP)

Nile Gardiner has an excellent column in Britain's Telegraph on President Obama's seemingly cavalier attitude toward both the presidency and Memorial Day.
Here's just a portion of what Gardiner has to say: 

Can you imagine David Cameron enjoying a round of golf on Remembrance Sunday? It would be inconceivable for the British Prime Minister to do so, and not just because of the usually dire weather at that time of the year. Above all, it would be viewed as an act of extremely bad taste on a day when the nation remembers and mourns her war dead. I can’t imagine the PM even considering it, and I’m sure his advisers would be horrified at the idea. And if the prime minister ever did play golf on such a sacrosanct day he would be given a massive drubbing by the British press, and it would never be repeated.
Contrast this with President Obama’s decision to play golf yesterday, Memorial Day, for the 70th time during his 28-month long presidency. For tens of millions of Americans, Memorial Day is a time for remembrance of the huge sacrifices made by servicemen and women on the battlefield. The president did pay his respects in the morning, laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery, but later in the day traveled to Fort Belvoir to play golf. The story has not been reported so far in a single US newspaper, but was made public by veteran White House correspondent Keith Koffler on his blog.

Click here to read the entire column.

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Memorial Day Lives In Small Town America

Maybe it's the timeless nature of the scenes.
Maybe it's the sense of community in a small town.
It could be a community pickup band playing under a big tree. Or it could be Old Glory held high, passing under the Town Clock on Main Street. Or it could simply be an old soldier with his hand over his heart or a young child proudly waving the flag or a mother looking on with a special awareness.
Whatever it is, we know that Memorial Day -- and the spirit of America itself -- lives on in its small towns and cities; in these places where neighbors pitch in to help one another and where cherished values endure.
This is where those who gave their all are remembered and cherished -- here and, one would hope, throughout our land.
The scenes above are from historic Haddonfield NJ, the picture-postcard town that seems made for such occasions.
But in fact, these scenes can found anywhere in America this weekend -- and even abroad where cemeteries have been set aside as resting places for Americans who died defending freedom around the world.
Wherever you are: honor, remember, reaffirm!

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Memorial Day: Keep Faith, Take Up Their Torch!

In Flanders Fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields. Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

 

John McCrae wrote In Flanders Fields. He was a medical officer in both the Boer War and World War I. A year into the latter war he published in Punch magazine, on December 8, 1915, the sole work by which he would be remembered. This poem commemorates the deaths of thousands of young men who died in Flanders during the grueling battles there.

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Christie: Honor Those Who Made 'Ultimate Sacrifice'

IIn honor of Memorial Day, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie yesterday joined Major General Glenn K. Rieth, The Adjutant General, and a number of our State's veterans at the State's Annual Memorial Day Ceremony at the Brigadier General William C. Doyle Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Wrightstown. The Doyle Cemetery, with approximately 15 burials each business day, covers 225 acres and was designed to accommodate 154,000 men and women who have served in the Armed Forces as well as their families.

“Memorial Day is a time to honor the men and women who wore this nation’s uniform and made the ultimate sacrifice in the name of liberty, democracy and freedom,” said Governor Christie. “I am pleased to join veterans and their families to honor the selfless service and sacrifices made by the veterans who are laid to rest at Doyle Cemetery.”

The Department of Military and Veterans Affairs (DMAVA), led by Major General Rieth, provides services to New Jersey’s more than 460,000 veterans from the time they leave military service until they are laid to rest. In addition to supporting all of the vital programs provided by DMAVA, including a toll-free mental health hotline for veterans, Governor Christie has signed legislation that strengthens the support network for military families after the death of a service member, as well as a program that awards high school diplomas to veterans who dropped out to serve in World War II, Korea and Vietnam.

In addition to the cemetery, DMAVA operates three Veterans Memorial Homes - Paramus, Menlo Park and Vineland - as well as a transitional housing program for homeless veterans in Winslow Township. DMAVA also maintains a statewide network of Veterans Service Offices who work to ensure all of the state’s veterans receive the federal and state entitlements earned through their service. The DMAVA team of 18 Veterans Service Officers accounted for the awarding of nearly $72 million in federal benefits to New Jersey veterans last year.

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A Remarakable Tribute To Our Heroes

Between the fields where this flag is planted, there are 9+ miles of flower fields that go all the way to the ocean. The flowers are grown by seed companies. 

It's a beautiful place, close to Vandenberg AFB. 

Check out the dimensions of the flag. The Floral Flag is 740 feet long and 390 feet wide and maintains the proper flag dimensions, as described in Executive Order #10834. 

This flag is 6.65 acres and is the first Floral Flag to be planted with 5 pointed Stars, comprised of White Larkspur. Each Star is 24 feet in diameter; each Stripe is 30 feet wide. 

This Flag is estimated to contain more than 400,000 Larkspur plants, with 4-5 flower stems each, for a total of more than 2 million flowers.

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Summer Does NOT Begin On Memorial Day!

Repeat after me:
SUMMER DOES NOT BEGIN UNTIL JUNE 21 (that's the bad news) BUT SUMMER DOES NOT END UNTIL SEPTEMBER 22 or thereabouts (that's the good news!)
The whole notion that summer begins on Memorial Day and end on Labor Day is something that was dreamed up by the media and/or the travel industry. And it's a lie.
Because the calendar (and the seasons themselves) tell a whole different story.
May is often cool and transitional. And so is much of June.
Summer begins at the summer solstice on June 21.
And autumn begins at the autumnal equinox on September 22.
June 21 is the longest day of daylight.
September 22 is a day when the hours of daylight and darkness are about equal. Thus, the equinox.
After September 22, darkness begins to take over and it remains that away until December 21 which is the shortest day of the year in terms of sunlight. Each day after that, we get more sunlight until the vernal equinox in March -- the first day of spring.
That's the cycle of the seasons.
We have many warm, wonderful days ahead of us.
And yes, there may be some gloriously sunny, summer-like days during the first few weeks of June (IF we are lucky). But it still won't be summer.
Summer comes in its own time and its own way. Nature has taken care of that.
Don't rush the season -- and don't cut it short.
And, when it's time, do go out and enjoy summer until at least September 22.
And don't let anyone tell you it's over on Labor Day.

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Today is the day we take the time to remember those who fought for our freedom

Ride free!

Thank you!

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