While most Americans see #Memorial Day as an excuse to kick back, cook out and watch a parade, make time to remember those who gave their lives in service, the Wounded Warrior Project says. Pay tribute to their memory by flying the #flag or placing flowers or wreaths on deceased service members’ graves. When it comes to #thanking a #veteran, remember that the holiday is reserved for those who lost their lives in conflict, so ask living veterans to have a “meaningful” Memorial Day and/or say the name of someone who made the ultimate sacrifice, the project says. “You can even say, ‘Today and always, I’m remembering [veteran’s name].’” #MemorialDay
Tag: honoring veterans
Thank a Veteran Any Day of the Year
If you can’t find a National Vietnam War Veterans Day or Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day #event to attend today in your area, you can #honor veterans in a more personal way by visiting a local veterans home or VA hospital, sending a card, making a phone call, or shopping a veteran-owned business. You can also #support to programs that benefit veterans any day of the year by #donating your lightly used clothing and household goods to ClothingDonations.org. Just schedule a #free #donation #pickup at your convenience, and our trucks will relieve you of that #clutter on the appointed day. #NationalVietnamVeteransDay
Events Nationwide Welcome Vietnam Veterans Home
If you happen to be in Monroe, Louisiana, on National Vietnam War Veterans Day (a.k.a. Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day), pay a visit to the Chennault Aviation and Military Museum. Veterans can enter and eat for free, and other guests are $10.00. Housed at a former military airfield school, the facility covers the histories of all five branches of the U.S. armed forces, featuring dramatic first-person accounts of local veterans’ experiences. It’s just one of the thousands of celebrations and observances honoring the #service and #sacrifice of those who served in the Vietnam War on March 29; find an event in your area! #NationalVietnamVeteransDay
Thank a Veteran During Black History Month
Military careers became more attractive to African Americans following the desegregation of the armed forces during the Korean War, says The Vietnam Center and Sam Johnson Vietnam Archive at Texas Tech, since they offered employment, education and training. As a result and in spite of the Vietnam War’s unpopularity, African American service members played key roles as soldiers, medics, pilots, sailors, marines and nurses. Celebrate Black History Month in February by #thanking a #veteran or making a #donation of time, money or used goods to organizations such as #VVA and ClothingDonations.org. #BlackHistoryMonth.
Make Every Day Boxing Day
Happy Boxing Day! British custom has it that the first weekday after Christmas is the day to acknowledge those rendering services throughout the year with gifts or gratuities. Servants and tradesmen have accepted “Christmas boxes” of gifts, cash bonuses, leftovers and secondhand items since medieval times, House Beautiful says.
Today, the United Kingdom and former colonies such as Canada, Australia and New Zealand celebrate Boxing Day as a shopping holiday, similar to Black Friday or a post-holiday clearance sale in the United States.
We’ve likely done all of the shopping we need to do for a while, and more shopping just means more #stuff to put away — or more #clutter. So let’s return to the “#giving” definition of Boxing Day and make it an everyday tradition from now through the new year.
It’s a great holiday for #minimalists, because it calls upon those celebrating to #give things away. Assuming it’s in good working order, the stuff you no longer use — wrong-sized clothes, extra kitchen and dinnerware, appliances, books, small furniture and so on — may have a second useful life in someone else’s hands.
That’s where ClothingDonations.org can help. Our drivers will pick up those extra things and resell them to #thrift stores to fund an array of programs that the nation’s #veterans rely upon. It’s a generous, safe and convenient way to observe the Boxing Day tradition of acknowledging others’ service.
You don’t have to limit yourself to a single box, of course. ClothingDonations.org will #pick up as many boxes and bags of #donations as you want to give. And if you’re still in the process of household #decluttering, you can schedule a #donation to match your progress as often as you gather a few boxes of stuff to #give away.
As the #holidays wind down, we hope you can make Boxing Day an everyday tradition — one that recognizes service and sacrifice while helping #declutter and #streamline your home life. Get started today, and make a new habit of observing Boxing Day as early and often as you want while getting organized for the new year. #BoxingDay