For too many Americans, Memorial Day has become simply the official start of summer, grill season, a day off and a mattress sale. No longer as a nation do we pause for a moment of reflection and appreciation for those who sacrificed all. Patriotism and military appreciation are sadly seen as jingoistic and old fashioned – if not racist and bigoted.
And so, in a horrific act of desecration and disrespect, we see what this decline in our values has wrought.
As Breitbart reports, Vandals in Venice (California) defaced a memorial to Vietnam War veterans who were Prisoners Of War (POW) or who never returned home because Missing In Action (MIA).
According to CBS Los Angeles, the vandalism–consisting of spray-paint placed over the names of those POW or MIA–stretches for “about one hundred feet.” The paint covers hundreds of names of those lost during the war.
Venice Chamber of Commerce chairman George Francisco responded to the vandalism by saying the graffiti is “a desecration.” Francisco said, “I’ve known the sacrifice these people made in an incredibly unpopular war. [And] to continue the mistreatment of Vietnam veterans is somewhat shocking; somewhat shocking and quite sad.”
