[ampaterry]

Thank you for the support, guys -
When a devotional spurs a conversation, it shows me that it is not only being read, but has been pondered upon as well.

I have many memories of my youth that involve WWII. I remember my older brother having a dream that Adolph Hitler was caught in a fence next to our property, and he was trying to beat him to death before he could get untangled. My oldest sister was dating a soldier, and military uniforms were common around our home. I remember some soldiers building a cart for me from a crate and pushomg it around the yard with me sitting inside driving it. Using my middle name, they painted “Joe's Jeep” on the side of it. I remember the smell of the air when wearing a gas mask, the feel of the silk in a parachute, and I remember the weight of a de-milled bazooka rocket.

When I started school, we observed every special day with some kind of activity to help us remember it. On this day, May 1st, we celebrated “May Day.” We would take baskets outside and gather wild flowers into them which we would use to make decorations. When I came home from school, my parents were never too enthused about this celebration, and I could not understand why. Then as I grew older, I discovered that May Day was a holiday in Russia to honor the struggle of the workers for better conditions against the evil capitalist business owners. Today, nothing would be done abut this celebration going on in the public schools, but I grew up in a different era with different standards than we have today. President Eisenhower, in 1958, countered this glorification of Communism by proclaiming this date as Law Day. Since Law Day did not catch on too well, he designated the same date the following year to also be Loyalty Day.

Loyalty Day is defined as follows in 36 U.S.C. § 115:
Purpose.— Loyalty Day is a special day for the reaffirmation of loyalty to the United States and for the recognition of the heritage of American freedom.
Proclamation.— The President is requested to issue a proclamation—
(1) calling on United States Government officials to display the flag of the United States on all Government buildings on Loyalty Day; and
(2) inviting the people of the United States to observe Loyalty Day with appropriate ceremonies in schools and other suitable places.

Lets do an experiment today. Lets count how many times you hear reference to Loyalty Day on any news outlet.
My money is on slim-to-none.

May God richly bless each one of you this day.