And I sing the blues on every Decoration Day

I'm not even going to try to write a Memorial Day post in tribute to those that sacrificed everything for freedom. Nothing that shows up on my "infinite monkey" style blog is going to be sufficient to encapsulate the debt we owe those who have gone before us and gave their own lives so that ours would be secure.

Now that the picnics, white sales, and races are over and done with, please don't forget that today - not all those other mundane little things - is when we mark the true purpose of the holiday. So I urge you to make it meaningful. Mainly though, I want to remind everyone flying their flags today of the proper etiquette for the holiday. Many folks don't fly their flags regularly, which is fine, so it's easy to forget that Memorial Day has a special protocol.

From dawn until noon the flag is flown at half-staff out of respect for those who have died. At noon, however, we raise the flag to its full height. Additionally, when first posting the colors, the flag is raised to its full height for a moment then slowly lowered to the half-mast position. If you've already posted your flag incorrectly today, please go correct it. Don't hesitate to politely ask anyone displaying their flag improperly to do so as well. (I'm always reminding the guys at Wal-Mart... it's gotten to the point now that when the manager sees me coming, he doesn't even wait - he pages someone to go out and fix the flag.)

I shouldn't really have to say this, but I know some jack-hole out there is going to try and stir up shit today. Anyone that takes offense at a correction for flying the flag has forgotten the reason we fly it in the first place. The short version is that it's not for any person's indivual pride, it's to show respect for our entire nation - both the institutions and the people... and on this day it's a very specific group of people. So if you're trying to show respect, you're failing to achieve your goal unless you do it properly.