May 24, 2020
May 24, 2020
On May 30, 1868, by proclamation of Gen. John A. Logan, commander of the Grand Army of the Republic, 5,000 participants gathered at Arlington National Cemetery to decorate the graves of more than 20,000 Union and Confederate soldiers who were buried there. It became known as Decoration Day, later Memorial Day, the day when we pause to remember and honor those who were killed in battle for our country.
During the Civil War, the worst cataclysm in American history, 94,000 Confederate soldiers and 140,000 Union soldiers lost their lives in combat. Tomorrow is Memorial Day. Instead of remembering those who perished in war, we will mark the 100,000th American death from this pandemic. It once seemed inconceivable this disease could claim more American lives than the Civil War, but now it is a virtual certainty.
What sacrifices are we willing to make to prevent this tragedy ? Is it too much to ask our countrymen to be careful, to wear a mask in crowded public places, to delay travel plans by a few months, to attend worship services remotely? Don't we owe that much to our forefathers who died at Gettysburg and Okinawa, Normandy and Hamburger Hill?
It is bad enough that America was unprepared for this pandemic, that we lost valuable weeks which could have spared untold suffering. To compound that error now by pretending the virus does not exist or calling new outbreaks a "badge of honor", to quote the President, is worse than despicable. It is a grotesque desecration of the memory of those who made the ultimate sacrifice to make our country safe and free.
Alabama reported 361 new cases today, the 11th straight day new cases exceeded 300.