Memorial Day 2017

Memorial Day is meant to remember those who died in military service. I watched the Memorial Day Concert from the U.S. Capitol on PBS, as I often do. I'm not a fan of schmaltzy stuff, and there's plenty of that, but I do appreciate that for the past several years the concert has told some not-rosy wartime stories and has covered subjects such as PTSD, suicide, and recovering from severe injuries and dealing with disabilities. This year was no exception – the concert told the dramatic tale of Colonel Richard Cole (101 years old, and the last surviving member of WWII's Doolittle Raid), paid tribute to the Tuskegee Airmen (with several surviving members attending), featured an announcement about a suicide hotline, and dramatized the story of a severely disabled serviceman and his grueling recovery (Luis Avila) before bringing him on stage. The presenters often said, "Please stand if you can, and stand for those who can't." The home page for the concert provides some familiar and useful resources, plus an intriguing page on musical therapy (last I featured The Telling Project, a theater project for veterans). Thanks to those who died in service, and let's also make sure we take care of those who make it home and need help.

Others' posts on Memorial Day:

Veteran Jim Wright at Stonekettle Station observes, "in reality, it’s not the soldiers we remember. It’s the endless war."

At Hullabaloo, Digby offers "Some words from that up and coming young man, Frederick Douglass" and Dennis Hartley provides "A Memorial Day Mixtape."

Balloon Juice hosted an open thread and also had two other posts for the day.