Memorial Day Guidance

People cope with tragedies in many ways. Some people try their best to forget, while others work to make sure the tragedy is never forgotten. The most constructive attitude towards memorials is sanctification.

As a nation, we need to be thankful for our veterans. The men and women who join the military undergo nine weeks, or more, of boot camp. That right there is said to be the most laborious nine weeks of anyone’s life. Drill sergeants break them down both emotionally and physically, so they can improve upon them and make them stronger. Those are the people we should be thanking, the ones who fight to preserve our country’s freedom, equality, and the pursuit of happiness. Those are the fundamentals of our Constitution that those people fight to protect. However, after their service, it doesn’t seem like people know that.

When used properly, Army leave and pass policy, AR 600-8-10, benefits the individual and over all Army operation. A soldier will be accountable to their unit as to their whereabouts during a period of leave or pass and will return to their place of duty at the pre-arranged time. As a Soldier we live by a high standard of values. And during extended leave, a weekend pass, or a military holiday, we are still expected to live up to these standards and values. In or out of uniform, we Soldiers are expected to act accordingly and abide by our creed. It is our duty to learn and follow the regulations and policy set forth, not just those referring to leave and pass policy, but to all areas of

As an example, soldiers in Phase V (20 plus weeks) will not be required to be with their buddy after the end of the established duty day.

An American can be defined by a variety of things. A natural born citizen is just as American as an immigrant searching for a new life, just like in “America and I” by Aniza Yezierska. An American can be a rich businessman or it could be a dedicated soldier like in “Veteran’s Day: Never Forget Their Duty” by John McCain. An individual’s definition of being an American is shaped by their life experiences. A person’s view on being an American is different because of experiences, such as being a veteran, being an immigrant, or living in poverty, all of which affect one’s perspective.

- These are the troops who only work on Drill weekends (usually the first full weekend of the month unless that weekend is associated with a holiday, then it's the following weekend).

This leave entitles employees to a 12 week unpaid leave within a 12 month period. It is 26 weeks for service men and women and their families. There are several components of this law that pertain to the number of employees, location of employees and the amount of time an employee has at their place of employment. Some employers may require you to use any accrued sick time, personal days or vacation time before the unpaid period

The Marine Corps has a twelve week required boot camp. When the New Marines, also known as Pullies, first arrive to either Paris Island or Sand Francisco, they have one scripted phone call to allow their families to know that they made it safely. For the first two weeks the new Pullie, cannot have outside communications to family or friends. When those two weeks are up they are then aloud to send letters, but they have to earn the credits to purchase the stamps and such needed. At the end of the eleventh week the Pullies go through what is called Hell Week, where they are not allowed to sleep for two days and nights, and still much preform at maxim compasity. When they are finished with their boot camp training they are allowed to see their family for a short amount of time before they graduate. After their graduation they have a ten day leave before they have to eather be deployed or continue on to a Marine Occupations Specialty School, MOS school.

Memorializing is often the way to remember a very important, intelligent, or rich person who lives above the rest of us. When we memorialize it sets a way to remember someone long after they have passed from life. More often than not those we put in statues and remember are those who change the world for the better or discover something new like Christopher Columbus, and his statue in Riverside Park (Deegan, Jim, source B). Lincoln's memorial isn’t where or had any importance to Lincoln, but it succeeds his most infamous speech he ever had “The Gettysburg Address” (Savage, source A). H. Elroy Johnson a famous lobster trapper, had a statue made but never finished during his lifetime, not until after his death, was the real statue made to memorialize him (Roadside America, source f).

“America was not built on fear. America was built on courage, on imagination and an unbeatable determination to do the job at hand.”- President Harry S. Truman. An American is someone who shows bravery, courage, and takes all opportunities that come their way. America accepts immigrants from all of the world, but a true American is someone who shows bravery, courage, can use any obstacle as motivation, and uses every opportunity to rise as high as they are willing to work.

In this case, Charley’s regular duty involves driving at least 10 hours back and forth as one way from Mobile, his tax home, is around 5 hours. Charley is required to leaves Mobile at 4:00 pm and arrives at his last stop around 12:00 midnight. Literally, Charley needs to “sleep or rest” on his way back, which is less than 24 hours.

Sharon Valdez, VP of Human Resources, reported that the Board ratified the SEIU MOU on April 28, 2016, which included and/or enhanced benefits for Represented employees. The purpose of this communication is to request that the Board extend the same benefits to Non-represented employees. Those benefits include: Three years additional days of PTO after ten years of service, Bereavement leave was increased from three to four days if travel is 500 miles or more, and educational reimbursement, and SCFHP reimburses each unit member up to a maximum of $2,000 per fiscal year for education, Satisfactory completion of the approved course(s) has been changed from a grade of “B” to a grade of “C”.

A junior PME is also to be conducted once a month and should be guided by an NCO, to discuss the same issues. Also, physical training (PT) will be held at the squadron level on Fridays and from Mondays through Thursdays on the smaller unit levels. This ensures consistency in PT, but at the same time allows Marines to take advantage of regular weekend liberty, vice conducting PT events on Saturdays.

It’s assumed that people have knowledge of what is appropriate planning for life after death, but nobody is ever prepared; and that is why preplanning is necessary. Death and dying is a part of life nobody likes to discuss, plain and simple, it makes us uncomfortable. This is a major contributor to why no one plans ahead. Nobody likes to think about death, it isn’t a pleasant thought to most of us. However, unfortunately, in our lifetime, avoiding a funeral is inevitable.

I went to help make Valentine Day cards for veterans. I truly enjoyed the experience overall. It was fun just to be able to sit and do something good for someone else, while being around people who wanted to do the same. It was also fun to just be able to be creative and create whatever type of card I wanted. It made me feel really good about myself and proud that I was apart of something that could make a person’s day.