There are ten recognized Federal holidays in the United States. I love all of them. As a Christian, I particularly look forward to Christmas and Easter, although the latter isn’t recognized as a Federal holiday. Some would say we should include other religious holidays, but I’ll leave that to another writing.
As a veteran, I do love and celebrate Memorial Day on the last Monday in May, Independence Day (the correct title) on 4 July, and Veterans Day on 11 November. All have deep significance for me, particularly Memorial Day, to remember those who have given “the last full measure of devotion”, Abraham Lincoln’s timeless words for the fallen.
I think the holiday honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is most appropriate, particularly to remind people that peace, not violence is the way we should bring about truth and justice for all. So too Presidents Day. We have had many good ones. Some not so. And I refuse to racialize Columbus Day. Those that want to scrub him away engage in “chronological snobbery,” the term British writer and lay theologian C.S. Lewis gave to modern moralizers who look with disdain on previous eras or people not to their liking. And then there’s New Year’s Day. I suppose it should be a holiday, but honestly, it lacks the significance I see in other holidays, save the possibility that it provides a needed day of rest for the excesses of a previous evening.
My favorite holiday is Thanksgiving. It falls during my favorite season of the year, autumn. Thanksgiving is special for my family and me. As a solider, and later as a battalion commander, I celebrated Thanksgiving with my troops, dressing in my dress blues with other officers and senior non-commissioned officers to serve Thanksgiving dinner in the battalion mess hall to soldiers who could not be with their families. My family and children would come along and pitch in to serve a heaping spoonful of goodies. The soldiers loved seeing them as well, doubtless feeling a connection to those they loved who were far away. The cooks always outdid themselves on this dinner—Christmas too—and I cherish the memories of those celebrations.
For me, Thanksgiving is just that. I could elaborate but fortunately our first President, George Washington, did it best. Take a moment to read his Thanksgiving Proclamation of 3 October 1789.
“Now therefore I do recommend and assign Thursday the 26th day of November next to be devoted by the People of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being, who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be—That we may then all unite in rendering unto him our sincere and humble thanks—for his kind care and protection of the People of this Country previous to their becoming a Nation—for the signal and manifold mercies, and the favorable interpositions of his Providence which we experienced in the course and conclusion of the late war—for the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty, which we have since enjoyed—for the peaceable and rational manner, in which we have been enabled to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national One now lately instituted—for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed; and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge; and in general for all the great and various favors which he hath been pleased to confer upon us.”
Normally, our family gathers at our place on the Potomac River to celebrate Thanksgiving. It’s our special place. With COVID this year, our numbers will be smaller and that is sad. For Shelley and me, Thanksgiving is about counting blessings, and for us that’s our kids and grandkids. They are our future, and we want to do all we can to help make it bright. And maybe in a small way, our efforts will be recalled by them in the years ahead. Thanksgiving is transcendent in that way. We give thanks today so they will keep on giving thanks tomorrow.
And don’t forget. While you are doing what we do, being grateful for God’s “signal and manifold mercies, and the favorable interpositions of his Providence,” watching football, or just relaxing, remember this. There’s a Solider on patrol somewhere, a young Marine on an outpost, an Airman working the flight line, a Sailor at watch on a cold wind-swept deck, and a Coastguardsman searching for someone lost at sea. They are not warm, they face danger. But they are not full of pity, but rather pride, glad that they are keeping watch bearing the burden and knowing someday someone else will do what they do now.
Happy Thanksgiving, a time to remember our blessings.
PS: And I am very thankful for those of you who have purchased my book Desert Redleg: Artillery Warfare in the First Gulf War or taken the time to write a review on Amazon or Goodreads. If you order one from the site above and enter code FDESERT, you’ll get a30% discount and free USPS Media Mail shipping of the hardcover version. Believe me, THIS is a good deal. Really!
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