Happy Memorial Day weekend everyone! It’s the unofficial start of summer so get
those barbecues out, get those bikini bodies ready, and let’s start the party! Yeah, if you actually say any of those things…
stop. For those of you who follow my channel regularly,
you probably know that I’m a veteran. Wait, before you write that comment... hopefully
you read the title of this video… so… you should know what I’m about to say next. Don’t thank veterans on Memorial Day. *Roll Credits* We have a day for that, appropriately
named Veterans Day. Known around the rest of the world as Armistice
Day, Remembrance Day, or Annual Call of Duty Release Day. It marks the end of World War 1, which happened
11am on 11/11/1918. In America, we also used to call it Armistice
Day until 1954, when Eisenhower officially renamed it to Veterans Day. Just as a side note, the official spelling
of Veterans Day is like this. Not like this or like this… There’s no apostrophe. Because it’s not a day that belongs to veterans
or any specific veteran. It’s a day to honor veterans in general. So that’s the day that you’re supposed
to thank veterans for their service. Which, another side note, I’ve never really
felt comfortable with any response to that. Like, you’re welcome? It’s taken me years to finally land on “Well
thanks for your support.” But even then I’m not entirely sure that’s
the right answer… and since I’m friends with other vets, I know I’m not alone in
that discomfort. That doesn’t mean you should stop though
– maybe we’re in the minority, I don’t know. But that’s the day you’re supposed to
do it. Of course that doesn’t stop people from
doing it every other day, which is fine. But there’s one day a year that you’re
not supposed to – and that’s Memorial Day. Because Memorial Day is set aside to remember
the fallen. …Not those fallen. Really? The bad guy from Transformers 2? Who even remembers that. Sorry… you’re not really being specific. Really? C’mon man. No you c’mon man! There you go. Yeah, Memorial Day is specifically set aside
to remember those who have DIED in service to our country. So saying thanks for your service to a living
veteran on that day is… weird. Like, thanks but… I’m still alive. It’s not really disrespectful per se, but
it just shows that you have no idea what this day is for. This day is appropriately named Memorial Day
because you’re supposed to go to a cemetery, or a monument or a… memorial… in order
to pay tribute to those who gave their lives for… well depending on the war it was for
something different. Your independence, your freedom, your security,
any number of different things. But that’s the key, you’re supposed to
go somewhere and do something. Posting your thanks on facebook isn’t enough. This goes for almost every holiday, whether
it’s Memorial Day, Veterans Day, and depending on your religion, Christmas or Easter. Go somewhere and do something. But, if this is the type of monument you decide
to visit on Memorial Day, you’re an asshole… *beep*… really? Sorry you just kind of took me by surprise,
you don’t really swear that often. Don’t you edit these afterwards? Yeah. Then how did you miss it? How did you hear it? Ah! Anyway, this topic seems to come up every
once in a while, but especially recently because of the removal of Confederate statues in New
Orleans. You may have seen this meme popping up on
your facebook feed too. There’s been a few versions of this over
the years, so let’s address it… Firstly, no, okay? Confederate veterans are not US veterans. In fact, they’re pretty much the exact opposite
of US veterans. They were separatist rebels who fought against
US soldiers – some might even go so far as to call them traitors. Some people think that the removal of Confederate
statues is similar to Germany removing Nazi statues. We’re never going to erase the Civil War
from the history books, but perhaps it’s best not to celebrate and have monuments to
such a racist separatist movemtn from our history. Let’s get one thing straight, saying that
they fought for states rights is a rose-colored perversion of history. Make no mistake, they only fought for one
state right – the right to keep slaves. The Civil War was not the war to end slavery
for the North, but it was the war to keep slavery in the South. You know what, I should probably just make
a video specifically on this… I wonder if it has anything to do with why
Oklahoma has a panhandle? Anyway, the laws and acts of Congress in question
did not explicitly declare Confederate veterans equal to US veterans. But it did do two things that kind of symbolically
do that. First (Public law 85-425), it makes pensions
available to the widows of veterans of the Spanish-American War, Civil War, Indian War,
and Mexican War. And further, states that “For the purpose
of this section…the term ‘veteran’ includes a person who served in the military or naval
forces of the Confederate States of America during the Civil War.” So does saying that the widows of Confederate
soldiers are eligible for pensions mean that Confederate veterans are equal to US veterans? The second law… sigh they actually get this
one incredibly wrong. The 17th Congress was in 1823. Nothing happened in 1929. And there’s no such thing as Public Law
810. What they mean is 85-811, which was passed
in 1958. So I really don’t know why they get this
one wrong or lie about it, maybe it’s because older makes it seem more legitimate? But 85-811 actually does kind of say what
they’re trying to convey. It made Confederate veterans eligible for
the same burial benefits as union and US veterans and retroactively brings any Confederate cemetery
into the Veterans administration. So while neither of these laws actually say
Confederate veterans are equal to Union or US veterans… they do say that when it comes
to burial and pension benefits, they are. So the rest of it is kind of up to your interpretation. Also, just for the record, the last surviving
Confederate veterans both died in 1959. None of them died in 1958. If you’re going to state something for the
record, at least get it right. So why am I making a distinction between US
and Confederate monuments and memorials? Because they do. At first, Memorial Day was a Union holiday. It was started in 1868 by the Grand Army of
the Republic, which is like the VFW, but for Union veterans of the Civil War, and it was
called Decoration Day. And it was a day specifically set aside to
decorate the graves of Union soldiers. It later became the national holiday known
as Memorial Day and is recognized on the last Monday of May. Confederate Memorial Day started on April
25th, 1866, two years earlier. And it’s the exact same thing as Decoration
Day but for Confederate soldiers. It’s still celebrated as a state holiday
in the South, but on different days depending on the state. In one state, it’s actually called Confederate
Heroes Day. Can you guess which state? It’s Texas. Because of course it’s Texas. So why separate US veterans from Confederate
veterans? Because they did… and still do. So the next time you decide to post your annual
thoughts and prayers for those who served on facebook or twitter, don’t. Actually go somewhere and do something. And the next time you want to thank a living
veteran for their service on Memorial Day, hopefully now, you’ll know better. Hey just really quick I want to let you know
that tonight at 7pm Pacific I’ll be participating in a live stream discussion with Mr. Beat
and Reading Through History about the recent removal of Confederate statues. I’ll put a link to that out on twitter since
it won’t be hosted on this channel. So make sure to follow me on twitter and be
on the look out for that. But if you liked this video or you learned
something, make sure to give that like button a click. If you’d like to see more from me, I put
out new videos every Sunday, so go ahead and memorialize that subscribe button. But in the mean time if you’d like to watch
one of my older videos, how about this one?
