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Thank you, Mr. Keillor, for some very appropriate thoughts on this years Memorial Day. I think that we might not make such huge blunders like this criminal war in Iraq, if we took the time to remember our history. Especially the occasion that prompted the first Memorial Day on May 31, 1868. It officially inaugurated a day to decorate the graves of the Civil War dead. In my youth it was still called Decoration Day, and we took flags and flowers to the cemetery and remembered the awful carnage of that war. That war was fought for maintaining the union and to end slavery. Our disgraceful foray into Iraq has no worthwhile reason. Today we mark the day with parades which in many areas are more militaristic than commemorative. This Memorial Day we should vow to never again allow the taking of lives, stupidly and carelessly again.
