About that last post... An Apology

First, I want to thank my good friend for pointing out what should have been obvious even to me: War casualties are never, ever something to make light of. Whether American or Iranian, Palestinian or Jewish, Japanese or German or French or Confederate or Union, war is about death. It's about mothers losing children, husbands losing wives, babies who will never meet their fathers.

More than that, I agree that most soldiers who die for their countries feel deeply, profoundly committed to their cause, regardless of the world's eventual verdict regarding its righteousness.

So I apologize for my last post. It was insensitive and boorish. I am very, very sorry.

I referred to Confederate Memorial Day as peculiar, and I still think it is; not because the subject of the holiday is peculiar, but because there seems to be disagreement about whether it actually exists. When I was doing research yesterday (and I admit, it was extremely superficial research), I happened upon this debate string on Wikipedia about whether there is actually such a thing as Confederate Memorial Day. (The librarian in me feels the need to point out that this is why you can't always trust Wikipedia). Comments responding to the wiki article imply that some people, even those living in the South, consider Confederate Memorial Day to be an urban myth:

Having lived in Mississippi for my whole life and never having heard about this "holiday", it seems to be just some paltry attempt at either humor or insult to people south of the Mason-Dixon Line. --J. S. Freeman 18:53, 15 January 2007 (UTC)
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I don't know what cave in Mississippi Mr Freeman is living in, but CMD has been celebrated every year for the 30 years I've lived in Mississippi. (Ray) 22:37, 26 April 2008 (UTC)
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I live in Atlanta, GA. The state recognizes this as a holiday and all state offices are closed - including my employer, the State Credit Union. ~Michael Cyr 28 March 2007
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(to the above) That's interesting, because having lived in GA all of my life I never once had a day off from work or school on that day. And, if you read one of the links posted below, it says that from 1984 on the state government only observes federal holidays. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 219.122.61.124 (talk) 06:17, 21 January 2010 (UTC)

For the record, there is such a holiday in Georgia. Today is it.

By the way, I continue to believe that the Civil War was indeed about slavery, and not just about states' rights; this is where my friend and I continue to disagree, and I say that knowing something about the history of the conflict.

That, however, does not diminish even slightly the depth of suffering experienced by Confederate or Union soldiers and their families; nor does it diminish their courage or commitment.

If there is anything else I need to do to make amends, I hope one of you will let me know.