Or at least in my opinion.
This year the parade instituted a rule that no weapons or implements of violence were permitted in the parade...to include the weapons carried by the Honor Guard bearing the national colors and other Veteran's groups.
I just sent this to the editor the local newspaper in response...
Begin Article:
Websters New American Dictionary (1968) in part defines a symbol as anything that represents something else
Wikipedia more succinctly defines a symbol as an object, character, figure, sound or color used to represent [an] abstract idea or concept.
Throughout history, professions of mankind have adopted certain symbols peculiar to the trappings of that occupation. One can hardly see a mortar and pestle and not think of the pharmacist; a stethoscope is a badge of honor worn by medical professionals (and by many a child pretending to be a doctor).
Warriors throughout the ages have proudly borne the trappings of their profession in both war and peace. From the Persian Scimitar to the modern air cavalry Stetson and Spur, professional warriors have maintained their love of symbolic items. Lets examine the Samurai of medieval Japan, similar in status and purpose to the knights of Western Europe in the middle ages, and their elegant katana (sword).
Inazo Nitobe wrote in his 19th century work Bushido, The Soul of Japan, It was the momentous occasion for him when at the age of five he was initiated into the rights of the military profession by having thrust into his girdle a real sword instead of the toy dirk with which he was playing. After this first ceremony he was no more to be seen outside his fathers gates without his badge of status
The sword was so important to the Japanese warrior that he would daily eat with it at his side; walk about daily errands with it and at the end of the day sleep with it still by his side. Many sources (including the recent movie The Last Samurai) discusses that the sword was considered to be the soul of the Samurai.
In the mid-1870s, the new Meiji government prohibited the samurai from carrying swords. During the Meiji Reformation, many changes were made which took away the Samurais privileges one by one; it wasnt until the warriors constant companion was taken from him however, that the Samurais symbolic castration was complete.
When any society allows its warrior class to be disarmed on the very day that they are to be honored for their service, it is clear that the neutering process has begun. No Soldier, Sailor, Airman, Marine, Coast or National Guardsman who has served his or her nation should bear the indignity of marching in an honor guard without the trappings of that profession. The very thought of presenting the National Colors without a properly equipped escort is sickening to me. The honor guard itself is a symbol, as are the weapons that they are supposed to bear.
The Japanese language is highly symbolic. Their written language is made up of three sets of symbols hiragana, katagana and kanji. The first two represent sounds and the third present words or, more often, concepts or ideas. Many kanji are made of several smaller symbols or radicals. When one of these smaller symbols that are part of the whole are omitted for any reason, the meaning of the entire kanji is drastically altered. A single deleted brushstroke can mean the difference between two totally different ideas.
Like the Japanese kanji, the honor guard is a symbol. The weapons carried by the left and right guard, as well as others in the procession, are symbols of the warrior lifestyle lived by those who are privileged to carry the colors of the Nation whom they have served. When you remove one small brushstroke the weapons from this larger symbol, you have changed the meaning of it. What does it mean to you?
I was told once that anything worth doing is worth doing right. A Veterans Day Parade without a properly equipped honor guard just aint right. Take it or leave it.
This year the parade instituted a rule that no weapons or implements of violence were permitted in the parade...to include the weapons carried by the Honor Guard bearing the national colors and other Veteran's groups.
I just sent this to the editor the local newspaper in response...
Begin Article:
Websters New American Dictionary (1968) in part defines a symbol as anything that represents something else
Wikipedia more succinctly defines a symbol as an object, character, figure, sound or color used to represent [an] abstract idea or concept.
Throughout history, professions of mankind have adopted certain symbols peculiar to the trappings of that occupation. One can hardly see a mortar and pestle and not think of the pharmacist; a stethoscope is a badge of honor worn by medical professionals (and by many a child pretending to be a doctor).
Warriors throughout the ages have proudly borne the trappings of their profession in both war and peace. From the Persian Scimitar to the modern air cavalry Stetson and Spur, professional warriors have maintained their love of symbolic items. Lets examine the Samurai of medieval Japan, similar in status and purpose to the knights of Western Europe in the middle ages, and their elegant katana (sword).
Inazo Nitobe wrote in his 19th century work Bushido, The Soul of Japan, It was the momentous occasion for him when at the age of five he was initiated into the rights of the military profession by having thrust into his girdle a real sword instead of the toy dirk with which he was playing. After this first ceremony he was no more to be seen outside his fathers gates without his badge of status
The sword was so important to the Japanese warrior that he would daily eat with it at his side; walk about daily errands with it and at the end of the day sleep with it still by his side. Many sources (including the recent movie The Last Samurai) discusses that the sword was considered to be the soul of the Samurai.
In the mid-1870s, the new Meiji government prohibited the samurai from carrying swords. During the Meiji Reformation, many changes were made which took away the Samurais privileges one by one; it wasnt until the warriors constant companion was taken from him however, that the Samurais symbolic castration was complete.
When any society allows its warrior class to be disarmed on the very day that they are to be honored for their service, it is clear that the neutering process has begun. No Soldier, Sailor, Airman, Marine, Coast or National Guardsman who has served his or her nation should bear the indignity of marching in an honor guard without the trappings of that profession. The very thought of presenting the National Colors without a properly equipped escort is sickening to me. The honor guard itself is a symbol, as are the weapons that they are supposed to bear.
The Japanese language is highly symbolic. Their written language is made up of three sets of symbols hiragana, katagana and kanji. The first two represent sounds and the third present words or, more often, concepts or ideas. Many kanji are made of several smaller symbols or radicals. When one of these smaller symbols that are part of the whole are omitted for any reason, the meaning of the entire kanji is drastically altered. A single deleted brushstroke can mean the difference between two totally different ideas.
Like the Japanese kanji, the honor guard is a symbol. The weapons carried by the left and right guard, as well as others in the procession, are symbols of the warrior lifestyle lived by those who are privileged to carry the colors of the Nation whom they have served. When you remove one small brushstroke the weapons from this larger symbol, you have changed the meaning of it. What does it mean to you?
I was told once that anything worth doing is worth doing right. A Veterans Day Parade without a properly equipped honor guard just aint right. Take it or leave it.
