MEMORIAL DAY has become -- in the minds of some -- a day devoted to uncovering their swimming pools and barbeques. So take a moment (preferably at 3 p.m. local time) to remember what it's really about. At least I think, that's still the deal -- the government's website seems to be down (good job, feds). Joyce Johnson and the "Arlington Ladies" who attend every funeral in Arlington National Cemetery, to ensure no soldier is buried alone, take more than a moment. Re-read "A Death in the Family," as powerful as it was when Christopher Hitchens wrote it in 2007. Revisit the Mudville Gazette for items like William Wyler's footage of the last mission of the Memphis Belle and Alfred Hitchcock's footage of the liberation of the Belsen concentration camp. The Wikipedia entry for Memorial Day notes a race track connection unrelated to the Indy 500. It's a good day -- as good as we are likely to get -- for Sgt. Barry Sadler's No. 1 smash, "Ballad of the Green Beret." or the movie adaptation of Gen. George S. Patton's "Speech to the Third Army." As "Greyhawk" once wrote at the Mudville Gazette, "This is Memorial Day weekend. Enjoy it. Celebrate it - the people who died to give you that right would appreciate it. But they didn't die peaceably in their beds, these dogs who fell protecting sheep from wolves." UPDATE: This week is a-gonna be jam-packed with great music. Y'all stop back now, y'hear?
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