Make Memorial Day Meaningful
I'm a pretty good shopper, so I know that Memorial Day is a great shopping day. But I'm also the child of a proud military family, and I know that we need to make holidays like Memorial Day and Veterans' Day more than just another chance to buy things on sale.
My family has served in the military dating back at least four generations, so I can truly appreciate the sacrifices made by those men and women who have fought so courageously in defense of freedom. Getting deployed changes a family irrevocably, and the veterans returning with injuries -- both the obvious physical ones as well as the invisible psychological ones -- and their families so need our support.
That's why I decided to become the national spokesperson for Beyond Tribute, the first-ever nationwide grassroots initiative specifically focusing on using Memorial Day and Veterans' Day to raise awareness and funds for research, treatment, and support for Armed Service veterans suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), and other neurological afflictions.
I recorded a short video promoting Beyond Tribute, and I encourage you to watch it. But the most important thing any of us can do is sign the pledge to shop at Beyond Tribute business and event partners over the holidays.
By Veterans Day, we hope to be able to raise significant money for veterans in need from the very businesses that usually capitalize on these solemn holidays. But before businesses will sign on, they need to see that people are committed to truly honoring, and actually helping, former service members.
I'm honored to have the opportunity to do something that helps the hundreds of thousands who continue to suffer the wounds of war long after the fighting on the battlefield has ended. They deserve our thanks, but most importantly, they deserve our help as they struggle to reclaim their lives.
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Excellent idea.
We wanted to do something special for Memorial Day also, so we started (launched today) a very serious effort to set the record straight once and for all. Please take the "I am not a racist" pledge at... http://iamnotaracist.wordpress.com/
THEY SERVE TO PRESERVE
They serve to preserve our forefathers dreams,
Prayers, visions and determination.
Risking all in pursuit of fulfillment of duty
To God, freedom, faith, honor and nation.
Despite dismemberment, death and loneliness
Patriots enlist to safeguard our flag.
With honor, faith, purpose and courage
They battle the sadistic that brag.
Throughout Man’s past as a creature of Earth
War has always plagued his expectance.
Greed, hate, fear, envy and rage
Have overruled rapture and repentance.
David was a soldier who lived by his faith
Which gave him the will to become brave.
He stood up to terror and toppled the giant
Leaving Goliath headless and alone in his grave.
David’s call thrives in hearts of man today
Shielding liberty from the warmongers of hell.
Facing down evil refusing to summit
Ensuring freedom and justice are alive and well.
Those of us blessed by the safety of home
Must remember the sacrifice of the few.
Run up your flag and show your support
For the heroes of the red white and blue.
By Conservative Poet
Tom Zart
Most Published Poet
On The Web
That's a nice endorsement. I will always love the show!
Nice!
This beats giving hospitalized veterans a tiny, foreign made, flag on Memorial Day. Don't gripe because the lady wasn't born in the USA, sign; give the ex-GI's something that will allow them to live, maybe, even outside a hospital. A lot of the vetarans have scars to remind them how they served the USA better than a mini-flag.
During the 1st war the peace was signed at 5am on the llth...The Politicians and the Military liked the sound of 11 month.11day.11hr so the conflict didnt end until 11am..During that 6hrs there was one soldier killed at 10:55..One is too many to die for stupidity
My point is how many people will be killed between today and 2012 due to the stupidity of the present Government and Military..
Finally ... a rare and worthwhile postivie use of the celebrity "cause" platform.
Thanks, Kim. Pledge signed.
Heya Kim:
Great post, but did you forget about Victoria Day here in your homeland LOL.........good one girl, keep it up!!!!
Fan at large in that foreign country Canada
I think a greater cause would be for the troops to come home and stay home, the best way to put an end to the dysfunction.
Take time out and tell a high schooler or college student why enlisting right now is a very bad idea
During the 1st war the peace was signed at 5am on the llth...The Politicians and the Military liked the sound of 11 month.11day.11hr so the conflict didnt end until 11am..During that 6hrs there was one soldier killed at 10:55..One is too many to die for stupidity
My point is how many people will be killed between today and 2012 due to the stupidity of the present Government and Military..
Very cool Kim Cattrall. Sometimes the low-key endorsements like these work - because they don't feel over-Hollywood/publicized. And, you have a real voice about the cause. Which makes it all worth it. Again - very classy.
Decoration Day, now called Memorial Day, was set aside long ago to honor all beloved persons who had passed on, and Veterans Day was specifically for the war dead. Now that our nation is a perpetual war machine, it seems to me only the religious holidays are not set aside to honor those sadly taken by war, or our nation's capabilities at war. I appreciate the concept of this article but must protest at the dedication of Memorial Day for honoring only one certain group of persons who are no longer living; plus I understand there is interest in honoring veterans not dead also on Memorial Day. I feel the holiday is evolving to something very different from what it originally was set aside to be. I, however, am all for honoring veterans, alive or dead, for their war efforts. Just want to see honor given on Memorial Day to departed mothers, sons, siblings, wives, husbands, uncles, aunts, grandparents, etc ., who did not die or suffer in a war but who are gone now and not forgotten.
Halloween, Valentine's Day, Mother's Day, Father's Day, Labor Day, Secretaries' Day, President's Day, MLK Day... we have no shortage of holidays for everything under the sun in this country. It's ridiculous to claim that holidays are either religious or war-related.
"was set aside long ago to honor all beloved persons who had passed on, "
It was set aside to honor war dead.
"Veterans Day was specifically for the war dead"
Veterans Day is to honor living vets.
I saw this on Big Hollywood and signed my pledge. Thank you Kim for you time and support to our veterans and service men and women
Pledge signed. Thank you, Kim.
I recently attended the Victory Day parade in Moscow, where they parade artillery through town. Try that out for size!
Good one, Ms. Cattrall.
I have long felt a void on memorial day and veterans' day. Neither stand for anything--thus they accurately represent our nation's support for those who have born the burden of battle, their widows, and their orphans. It's a crime that the GOP, George W. Bush and John McCain claim to support veterans when every action, every law, every budget, strangles the veteran and his family more tightly. No sooner than my son's boots hit the ground in Iraq, Bush and his robot congress cut two BILLION dollars out of the budget of the VA. They seriously believed that there would be no injuries, no emotional problems to be dealt with among veterans. I immediately wrote to my senators--Elizabeth Dole (married to disabled vet Bob Dole) and Dick Burr (proudly descended from traitor Aaron Burr) warning them that they would drain the VA at their peril. Neither listened to me. Dole lost her next election and Burr is less popular than George Bush with an election barely a year away. If you're a vet, the GOP sucks. Oh hell, the GOP sucks whether you're a vet or not.
Thanks for what you are doing Kim !!! I'm not a fan of Huf Post, but I saw this on Big Hollywood and thought I would give you my support :) Jim (Veteran of 30 years)
A meaningful innovation. Pledge signed. Thanks for your work on it.
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