Happy Memorial Day weekend everyone!
It’s the unofficial start of summer so get those barbecues out, get those bikini bodies
ready, and let’s start the party!
Yeah, if you actually say any of those things… stop.
For those of you who follow my channel regularly, you probably know that I’m a veteran.
Wait, before you write that comment... hopefully you read the title of this video… so…
you should know what I’m about to say next.
Don’t thank veterans on Memorial Day.
*Roll Credits* We have a day for that, appropriately named Veterans Day.
Known around the rest of the world as Armistice Day, Remembrance Day, or Annual Call of Duty
Release Day.
It marks the end of World War 1, which happened 11am on 11/11/1918.
In America, we also used to call it Armistice Day until 1954, when Eisenhower officially
renamed it to Veterans Day.
Just as a side note, the official spelling of Veterans Day is like this.
Not like this or like this…
There’s no apostrophe.
Because it’s not a day that belongs to veterans or any specific veteran.
It’s a day to honor veterans in general.
So that’s the day that you’re supposed to thank veterans for their service.
Which, another side note, I’ve never really felt comfortable with any response to that.
Like, you’re welcome?
It’s taken me years to finally land on “Well thanks for your support.”
But even then I’m not entirely sure that’s the right answer… and since I’m friends
with other vets, I know I’m not alone in that discomfort.
That doesn’t mean you should stop though – maybe we’re in the minority, I don’t
know.
But that’s the day you’re supposed to do it.
Of course that doesn’t stop people from doing it every other day, which is fine.
But there’s one day a year that you’re not supposed to – and that’s Memorial
Day.
Because Memorial Day is set aside to remember the fallen.
…Not those fallen.
Really?
The bad guy from Transformers 2?
Who even remembers that.
Sorry… you’re not really being specific.
Really?
C’mon man.
No you c’mon man!
There you go.
Yeah, Memorial Day is specifically set aside to remember those who have DIED in service
to our country.
So saying thanks for your service to a living veteran on that day is… weird.
Like, thanks but…
I’m still alive.
It’s not really disrespectful per se, but it just shows that you have no idea what this
day is for.
This day is appropriately named Memorial Day because you’re supposed to go to a cemetery,
or a monument or a… memorial… in order to pay tribute to those who gave their lives
for… well depending on the war it was for something different.
Your independence, your freedom, your security, any number of different things.
But that’s the key, you’re supposed to go somewhere and do something.
Posting your thanks on facebook isn’t enough.
This goes for almost every holiday, whether it’s Memorial Day, Veterans Day, and depending
on your religion, Christmas or Easter.
Go somewhere and do something.
But, if this is the type of monument you decide to visit on Memorial Day, you’re an asshole…
*beep*… really?
Sorry you just kind of took me by surprise, you don’t really swear that often.
Don’t you edit these afterwards?
Yeah.
Then how did you miss it?
How did you hear it?
Ah!
Anyway, this topic seems to come up every once in a while, but especially recently because
of the removal of Confederate statues in New Orleans.
You may have seen this meme popping up on your facebook feed too.
There’s been a few versions of this over the years, so let’s address it…
Firstly, no, okay?
Confederate veterans are not US veterans.
In fact, they’re pretty much the exact opposite of US veterans.
They were separatist rebels who fought against US soldiers – some might even go so far
as to call them traitors.
Some people think that the removal of Confederate statues is similar to Germany removing Nazi
statues.
We’re never going to erase the Civil War from the history books, but perhaps it’s
best not to celebrate and have monuments to such a racist separatist movemtn from our
history.
Let’s get one thing straight, saying that they fought for states rights is a rose-colored
perversion of history.
Make no mistake, they only fought for one state right – the right to keep slaves.
The Civil War was not the war to end slavery for the North, but it was the war to keep
slavery in the South.
You know what, I should probably just make a video specifically on this…
I wonder if it has anything to do with why Oklahoma has a panhandle?
Anyway, the laws and acts of Congress in question did not explicitly declare Confederate veterans
equal to US veterans.
But it did do two things that kind of symbolically do that.
First (Public law 85-425), it makes pensions available to the widows of veterans of the
Spanish-American War, Civil War, Indian War, and Mexican War.
And further, states that “For the purpose of this section…the term ‘veteran’ includes
a person who served in the military or naval forces of the Confederate States of America
during the Civil War.”
So does saying that the widows of Confederate soldiers are eligible for pensions mean that
Confederate veterans are equal to US veterans?
The second law… sigh they actually get this one incredibly wrong.
The 17th Congress was in 1823.
Nothing happened in 1929.
And there’s no such thing as Public Law 810.
What they mean is 85-811, which was passed in 1958.
So I really don’t know why they get this one wrong or lie about it, maybe it’s because
older makes it seem more legitimate?
But 85-811 actually does kind of say what they’re trying to convey.
It made Confederate veterans eligible for the same burial benefits as union and US veterans
and retroactively brings any Confederate cemetery into the Veterans administration.
So while neither of these laws actually say Confederate veterans are equal to Union or
US veterans… they do say that when it comes to burial and pension benefits, they are.
So the rest of it is kind of up to your interpretation.
Also, just for the record, the last surviving Confederate veterans both died in 1959.
None of them died in 1958.
If you’re going to state something for the record, at least get it right.
So why am I making a distinction between US and Confederate monuments and memorials?
Because they do.
At first, Memorial Day was a Union holiday.
It was started in 1868 by the Grand Army of the Republic, which is like the VFW, but for
Union veterans of the Civil War, and it was called Decoration Day.
And it was a day specifically set aside to decorate the graves of Union soldiers.
It later became the national holiday known as Memorial Day and is recognized on the last
Monday of May.
Confederate Memorial Day started on April 25th, 1866, two years earlier.
And it’s the exact same thing as Decoration Day but for Confederate soldiers.
It’s still celebrated as a state holiday in the South, but on different days depending
on the state.
In one state, it’s actually called Confederate Heroes Day.
Can you guess which state?
It’s Texas.
Because of course it’s Texas.
So why separate US veterans from Confederate veterans?
Because they did… and still do.
So the next time you decide to post your annual thoughts and prayers for those who served
on facebook or twitter, don’t.
Actually go somewhere and do something.
And the next time you want to thank a living veteran for their service on Memorial Day,
hopefully now, you’ll know better.
Hey just really quick I want to let you know that tonight at 7pm Pacific I’ll be participating
in a live stream discussion with Mr. Beat and Reading Through History about the recent
removal of Confederate statues.
I’ll put a link to that out on twitter since it won’t be hosted on this channel.
So make sure to follow me on twitter and be on the look out for that.
But if you liked this video or you learned something, make sure to give that like button
a click.
If you’d like to see more from me, I put out new videos every Sunday, so go ahead and
memorialize that subscribe button.
But in the mean time if you’d like to watch one of my older videos, how about this one?