Memorial Day

Memorial Day: Memorial Day will be observed by the vast majority of Americans lighting barbecues, hunting for bargains and mayhap fly a flag on the lawn. But for several immigrants who were sworn in as citizens of these America will be a solemn event much more that we pause to honor those killed in the line of duty to protect this precious most ideals, freedom. Immigrants have forever played a role in defending U.S.A. and its core values. It was Friedrich von Steuben, a Prussian general, who drilled the Continentals, and while everybody knows French nobleman Lafayette's contribution, few know of fellow Frenchman Louis Duportail, a military engineer who helped Washington build key fortifications. Polish nobleman Casimir Pulaski is reputed to have saved the life of Washington on the battlefield, only to lose his own life battling the British in Georgia. Yet, these are only a few examples retrieved from American history. Having grown up in a foreign nation, the first-generation American citizens have a single point and powerful compared to observe Memorial Day. There is nothing here that we take for granted. Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness was, for many immigrants, a distant dream secretly read in books or in whispered conversations. Whole regiments of Irishmen fought to preserve the Union during the Civil War, fighting 69 in New York State is the most legendary, but an approximated 40,000 Irish immigrants put on the blue uniform to take up arms for freedom.Memorial Day