(“American Eagle”, Jane Kohut-Bartels, 2004, watercolor)
Memorial Day Weekend. My father, my cousin Donnie, my mother in law Betty, my father in law Hap, our son Christopher and those who have served our country, I am grateful. We take for granted their sacrifice, and they and so many others, are the backbone of our defense and safety of our Nation. We are one of the few in our neighborhood that fly the flag, and this just isn’t enough. Our Nation is under stress /attack from many quarters. We salute them and their sacrifices.
Many people feel that patriotism is old fashioned, out of step with multiculturalism, etc. It is not a situation of “my country, right or wrong’. It is a look back at all the struggles and sacrifice that has been given by so many to build this nation and for us to enjoy the freedoms we have today. If you think these freedoms are just something in our constitution, think again. I have a very dear friend across the globe who got in a lot of trouble for his posts on the internet. His employer tried to fire him and he had to obtain an attorney. A four month battle and suspension, and the place of employment is demanding that he never use social media again. On or off the job. This is draconian and outrageous, but it makes me understand our freedoms, and especially our freedom of speech better. We take so much for granted in this country. We think that things fall from Heaven but they don’t. They are hard won by the labors and sacrifice of lives.
I live and have for almost 50 years in a part of Atlanta where fully 70% of the young men have destroyed their future of any service by drugs, crime, gangs. So many just rent their citizenship. They do nothing but destroy the nation with their behavior. Then there are others who serve and die in wars and this is a great tragedy that they don’t get to live out their lives that they have done the hard labor to protect our rights in this Nation. We must honor these last men and women. The Devil take the others.
Make Memorial Day a celebration of those who have served and sacrificed and not just a three day holiday of food. We are going to find something to attend or do, Fred and I, this weekend that makes Memorial Day become what it is supposed to be. Bless our Nation and our future.
Jane Kohut-Bartels
Copyrighted, 2017
The Lady Nyo, with glitter
Tags: Memorial Day, our nation under stress, sacrifice of soldiers
Lady Nyo's Weblog 
May 27, 2017 at 3:42 pm
Thanks for posting, Jane!
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May 27, 2017 at 5:47 pm
You’re welcome!
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May 27, 2017 at 6:34 pm
Thankful for all who’ve risked their lives for liberty…including the framers of our constitution.
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May 28, 2017 at 1:11 am
Absolutely, Lynn. Thank you for mentioning them. Today there is an attitude in parts or our society who put down these men. Most of them who dismiss them have no idea what they went through themselves to bring forth our constitution. They are dismissed because of their race and class. But they sacrificed much for this, and reading “John Adams” gave me a clearer picture of this. This sort of public service is little shown today. It’s mostly about self aggrandizement and personal power. We see this in our Congress…we see this on the lowest level of city councils. It’s a corruption of ideals. I have a friend who was suspended for 4 months for his ‘opinions’ on social media. The draconian solution by his employer was that he was not to write anything on any social media…at work (which was the original offense) or off work. This is outrageous. It is beyond the pale…but this country doesn’t have the protection of freedom of speech that we do. We misuse it, too…with frivolous lawsuits, etc. But it is there for our protection, for our freedom to express ourselves as we see the truth of things….and it is precious.
Thank you, Lynn…and have a good Memorial Weekend.
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May 28, 2017 at 1:13 am
Precious indeed! You have a good one too!
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