This letter is in regard to the Canton Repository guest essay by the executive director of the Serving Area Military and Veterans on May 24, “To honor veterans who died, we must support those still living.”
It is not unusual for people to confuse Memorial Day with Veterans Day. Unfortunately, this essay added to the confusion that many people have between Memorial Day and Veterans Day. While Memorial Day honors service members who died while serving in the military, Veterans Day is specifically dedicated to celebrating all of America’s living veterans.
In this column, Memorial Day is the day to “recommit ourselves to supporting the veterans who did” make it home and “support the living.” Also, “the greatest tribute we can offer to the heroes we have lost is to care for the heroes who remain.”
This column would be a gift for the SAM Center for Veterans Day with the stories, experiences and learning of services provided to living veterans. To use Memorial Day to advertise and sell the SAM Center is inappropriate with disregards to the true understanding and purpose of Memorial Day, the focus respectfully to be on those who lost their lives in battle. Perhaps it would have been more fitting to focus on Gold Star families who support the SAM Center financially through service.
Chiquita Seesan, Massillon
This article originally appeared on The Repository: Don’t blur distinction between Memorial Day and Veterans Day | Letter
Reporting by The Repository / The Repository
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