CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARADVERTISER.COM
U.S. Marine Lance Cpl. Caden Hamlin, left, and Lance Cpl. James Grant prepared Monday for a rifle salute at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific at Punchbowl.
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Memorial Day is set aside as a national holiday to honor our fallen soldiers. The biggest celebration here involved 4,000 lanterns released into the ocean at a religious gathering honoring ancestors. Maui honored 101 people who died in the August wildfire. These events competed with what Memorial Day was intended to be.
In addition, the fire victims were just that, victims, not heroes. They are victims to whom we should apologize, because we as a society failed them.
Maybe I should not put a damper on it all, but I am less than enthusiastic about the now-common greeting, “Happy Memorial Day!” Let’s remember what Memorial Day is about.
Jim Killett
Lahaina
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