Immortal Regiments
We Need A Federal Holiday For D-Day
Lightly edited since I first hit publish. I put the word “Congress” in scare quotes because you figure it out.
Do you remember when “Congress” snuck Juneteenth, that holiday no one ever heard of, which solidifies the DEI-ification of America, past us? I don’t. I just remember that it happened, and it patted itself on the back, and I turned away in disgust.
I also don’t remember when “Congress” destroyed two civic holidays that actually meant something to Americans, Lincoln’s birthday and Washington’s birthday, and created this meaningless thing known as “President’s Day.” I remember that they did it, but not the run-up to it. By the time I learned about it, it was a done deal.
Has there ever been a country that thought so little of itself, its national pride, as the United States? I can’t think of one. Our “Congress” forces people to observe things that mean nothing to them and destroys the little they have in common. It’s criminal.
“Congress” should declare June 6 a federal holiday. No one celebrates Veteran’s Day and Memorial Day is just a barbecue that ends summer vacay season.
Declaring June 6 “D-Day Day” would remind Americans of a few things.
But we can’t blame this entirely on “Congress.” They do what they think they can get away with. And “Congress” won’t do this. So it’s up to us.
We should do what the Russians did with the Immortal Regiment.
The Immortal Regiment is a massive annual event in Russia held on May 9 during Victory Day celebrations. It began as a grassroots movement in 2012 in Tomsk, Russia, where people carried portraits of relatives who fought in World War II. The idea quickly spread, becoming a symbol of remembrance.
Participants march through city streets, holding photos of their ancestors who served in the war—whether as soldiers, partisans, or home front workers.
Over time, the Russian government embraced the movement, integrating it into official Victory Day commemorations. It’s also spread to other countries, usually through the vehicle of the Russian diaspora, but others join in. Unfortunately, since the Ukraine invasion, it’s taken on political overtones, but the sentiment was originally meant to emphasize personal stories, the sacrifices of Everyman and Everywoman.
Is a grass-roots movement like this a bit much for Americans? If so, that’s sad. Those sheep-like Russians can take matters into their own hands while we freedom-loving gun-toting Americans just put up with what “Congress,” that abomination that everyone loves to hate, dishes out?
So much for national stereotypes.
What would an American Immortal Regiment look like? I don’t know. I just know that when something courses through a people, stuff happens and that nothing good comes from “Congress.”
Meanwhile, let’s remember. They can’t take our memory away from us.
I was in the audience the first night Saving Private Ryan was released in July 1998.
Believe it or not, because it was a summer release, the season of mindless fun entertainment dreck, Saving Private Ryan was not expected to be a hit. Even so, a friend made sure to score a “comp” ticket. I’m glad he did. The theater was packed. What a surprise….
Chalk another one up for “nobody knows anything.” The movie dropped onto the country’s mind like an anvil. Saving Private Ryan became a cultural touchstone.
Those first twenty-three minutes were the most powerful twenty-three minutes of film I’ve ever seen—although half the time my eyes were closed.
I don’t even remember the rest of the movie.
We need a federal holiday for D-Day.
This is Sgt. Jake “McNasty” McNiece, the half-Choctaw informal leader of “The Filthy Thirteen.” They shaved their heads because of him.
The Dirty Dozen was a highly fictionalized version of “The Filthy Thirteen.”
Lee Marvin, who had fought in the Pacific as an 18-year-old Marine, hated The Dirty Dozen. It was “crap” and a “dummy moneymaker” that bore no resemblance to the reality of war, and lastly, the actors were too damn old.
Marvin died in 1987, years before he could see a movie that actually did show the reality of combat. Marvin is buried at Arlington. Not everyone rates a burial there. Here’s what PFC Marvin did to earn his final resting place.
At Battle of Saipan he was wounded by machine gun fire, severing his sciatic nerve. He spent 13 months hospitalized before being medically discharged. Decorations: Purple Heart, Combat Action Medal, Navy Presidential Unit Citation, American Campaign Medal, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, and World War II Victory Medal.
We need a federal holiday for D-Day.
Thank you for this! We ABSOLUTELY need a federal holiday for D-Day!
BS"D
Your recent posts have been snipes and barbs, mostly on target, sometimes without context. I find them amusing, and I look forward to them, but I wish you would occasionally write something more substantial, like an essay, a review, or a book. And thanks for the photo of Eisenhower sobbing. A thousand words.