The WAY to WOW Shows
Holidays Honoring Military People
May 28, 2024
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[0:00] to business lessons from the military I'm your host Kevin bemel and we're here every Tuesday at 10:00 a.m. Pacific time that's 1 pm on the east coast and we talk about military history military Doctrine the practices of great military leaders and apply it to our professional lives in order to make them better so um I I had the pleasure uh this morning earlier this morning because it's still morning here on the west coast of appearing on Vanessa Donaldson's show

[0:35] and we talked about chaplain in the military and and you know what benefits they can bring especially to military spouses so I'm kind of in a a military vein already today um and one of the one of the um ideas that um I I brought out of my career uh in in the United States Navy is um that you know we we meaning we taxpayers we fellow citizens spend so much money training people in the military to do their jobs and it's a shame that we

[1:10] don't benefit more from that investment and so this show is in part an attempt to bring to everybody um many of the things that I learned in the military uh for our mutual benefit to make our society our economy better so um any in any event um it's it's the day after Memorial Day and I I found this oftentimes to be the case and and I I will admit right up front uh this this probably shouldn't bother me um because

[1:48] um you know 20 years ago I I didn't know this I I'm pretty sure um but um it but it it does and for for anyone who knows me you know I'm a Garian and all that kind of stuff so you know the the but the the death is in the details I think they say um and so I wanted to do uh I decided to do a show on the various holidays honoring military people so there are in fact three of them and Memorial Day is

[2:26] uh just the oldest of them but the three uh holidays honoring military people um in in order of when they were created are Memorial Day veterans day and Armed Forces Day and in fact they all uh honor um a different group of people and and were created for different reasons uh and um you you may be wondering well how does this fit into you know know business I'm going to talk

[3:01] about that um in a few minutes but I wanted to start out by first of all making the distinctions between the three holidays so as I said a moment ago Memorial Day is the oldest holiday it dates all the way back to 1868 so just uh a a few years after the American Civil War ended it was originally known as decoration day now you might be thinking decorations oh like like medals that military people got no that that's not where the

[3:37] decoration comes from it actually came from the practice of going to cemeteries and decorating the graves of uh service members who had been killed in in the service of their country the United States and in fact that is what Memorial Day on that is who I should say Memorial Day honors it honors uh Soldier Marines soldiers Marines Sailors and Airmen and I guess now Spacemen I don't know what

[4:12] we call the members of of space force Coast Guardsmen um who have died in the line of duty um it is it is not a holiday to honor people who have served in the military who are still alive or to honor people who are currently serving in the military not at all it's only to honor uh those who have died in the service of their country and I know you scrolling through my uh Instagram feed over the last couple of days it is it is interesting because some of the messages

[4:48] uh or some of the posts I guess messages whatever you want to call them that that were posted indeed said to remember and to honor right and and that is uh I I think a a beautiful sentiment for um to express on Memorial Day because indeed we are remembering these people they are no longer with us at least here on Earth um and they made you know what is oftentimes called the Supreme sacrifice uh for their country and so I I think it is appropriate that on Memorial Day um

[5:24] which is the I believe it's always on the the fourth um the fourth Sunday fourth I mean Monday of uh of of May um I want to just double check this uh go to my calendar here is it the fourth or the fifth yeah it's on the the fourth uh Monday of of May each year um that that you know we remember just that group of people it's no insult to active duty service members or

[5:59] veterans and I I was both I'm currently a veteran I was an active duty service member it's no slight to us um to remember only our fallen comrades indeed um they are certainly worthy of a day to honor them and you know with cander I'm glad I'm not being honored on Memorial Day because I'm I'm happy to be alive so so that that is uh Memorial Day the next oldest holiday is uh Veterans

[6:35] Day which is on the 11th of November now um memor um sorry Veterans Day actually started out as Armistice Day because the Armistice in World War I okay was signed at the 11th Hour on the 11th day of the 11th month month in 1918 that is when World War I ended and the following year 1919 um President woodro Wilson um sort

[7:14] of proclaimed armus day as a day to honor the veterans of World War I okay so veterans are people who have served in the military um I I think originally PE active duty people weren't really considered veterans per se because they were still on active duty although today it's pretty common to consider active duty service members and and reservist as veterans but but in the beginning veterans were people whose service had has concluded um and they're they were

[7:50] back in civilian life and over the years since 1919 um Veterans Day which also was known as Remembrance Day um again it's it's uh remembering you know the people who fought in these wars um you know eventually in 1954 um it was renamed um armus day was officially renamed um Veterans Day and Veterans of all the wars um including at that point uh World War II and uh the Korean War

[8:29] and there were probably still some Spanish American War veterans alive in 1954 Spanish American war was I think 1899 I want to say so it honored all of those veterans and that that practice has continued until today so on November 11th we celebrate Veterans Day when we honor people who have served um in the military okay so that's the second holiday honoring military people the most recent holiday um honoring military people and I think the least known is

[9:06] Armed Forces Day now um Armed Forces Day um is is there to um well first of all it it's celebrated on the third Saturday in May so this year I I think the third Saturday was the I want to say the 18th yeah it was the 18th of of May so a little over about well about a week and a half ago okay and Armed Forces Day honors people who are currently serving

[9:41] in the military okay so these are and and generally speaking it's uh people on active duty so we're talking about current soldiers Marines Sailors Airmen Coast Guardsmen and uh Spacemen I guess so okay and um Armed Forces Day was created in [Music] 1949 by uh then Secretary of Defense L Lewis Johnson um and it replaced separate Army Navy and Air Force days so became one holiday to um to acknowledge

[10:19] um all people of the Armed Forces okay and you know I you know I I heard nothing about Armed Forces Day this year um nor do I Really Ever you almost never hear about Armed Forces Day maybe It suffers because it's so close to Memorial Day and people conflate the two um you know don't really know um but um the um um the the reality is is is that to honor the people who are

[10:54] currently serving Armed Forces Day is in fact um the uh you know the the appropriate time to do that and I I think that Armed Forces Day um sort of kicks off military appre appreciation week which then ends with Memorial Day so it goes from basically Saturday to Monday I know they were we were having Fleet Week um down in San Pedro California um some friends of mine I think went down there yesterday to to visit a ship they invited me to go with them and I wasn't able to go um but um

[11:31] you know there's different military appreciation things that go on but again these are three distinctive holidays um again Memorial Day on the 4th uh Monday of May to honor people who have died um in the service of their country Veterans Day on November 11th to honor people who have served in the military but currently are not and then Armed Forces Day the 3 Saturday of May to honor people who are currently

[12:07] serving now um three different groups three different days um and and um and and and that's you know ideally how how it works now how does this then apply to our our civilian business lives so I would I would argue that when we uh conflate different groups and and honor them all together we lessen the amount of Honor we're giving to um to to you

[12:43] know individual groups so by conflating Memorial Day with veterans and Armed Forces Day it takes some of the spotlight off of the people who died in the service of their country and and likewise if we do the same thing in our professional lives in our business lives I think we're doing the same thing so if if there's one individual who has accomplished something for our company I think it's appropriate to recognize just that

[13:19] individual now they may have gotten a little bit of help here or there from other people and that's all kind of in the course of how a team works fine um but but to include everybody in the recognition at the same level really detracts from the person who was the primary driver of of that accomplishment likewise if it was in fact a team accomplishment so then that team should be recognized but then you know you don't don't recognize uh the department the department may have supported them

[13:56] and and and you may say you know they were supported by their department but but indeed we're recognizing you know this group of four people five people whatever it is for what they accomplished and and that gives them the real recognition um that that they have earned and and they can hopefully you know bask in that recognition um and and you know enjoy the Limelight for a few moments and know that what they accomplished was really wor their their their time and effort and

[14:31] and is is appreciated by you know the management of the company by the owners of the company Etc so um and and I've talked about this before when I talked about military decorations personal Awards and such so you know when a medal is awarded to an individual service member uh it's it's very unlikely although it does sometimes happen that that medal was earned solely by the efforts of that service member I mean minimally the service member couldn't have stayed alive without the people providing logistics for food and

[15:07] ammunition or whatever right um but indeed you know we recognize them for their individual accomplishment and when we when we issue a unit citation we're recognizing just that unit and again that unit probably didn't literally accomplished their mission all on their own they were supported by um the larger you know if if if they were a a you know a a platoon or a squad from a Marine Corps Battalion they were undoubtedly supported by the Battalion itself um but but the accomplishment is still theirs

[15:43] and it it it is um I think a diminishment of of their honor of their accomplishment to include other people in it that that didn't really you know that were not key to making to meeting that goal to meeting that objective whatever it was that happened and again in in in the business world I think it's the same thing so um we we you know we have a a tendency to sort of want to include everybody you know you I'm sure you've heard about you know the whole thing about you know everybody gets a

[16:19] participation award you know they do that for kids or whatever um I will tell you candidly I I I I don't think that's a good practice um just just you know the reward for participating is that you participated um you had a chance to learn you had a chance to be on a team and and and that is that is your reward um there's no need to give a trophy Just for participating trophies should be um reserved for some kind of outstanding accomplishment And when everybody gets a trophy it basically makes the trophy

[16:54] meaningless now you may say well a little kid doesn't know the difference and in they probably don't know the difference they may be just excited to get a trophy um but then later in life when they truly do something of of note and and they get a trophy it's like well I did this big thing and got a trophy this other one in fact you know was probably meaningless or it creates the idea that I I should get a trophy when I did something um outstanding and how come I'm not getting a trophy and you know blah blah blah blah blah so um I I I I think that um you know we we we need

[17:32] to be shall we say more precise when we Dole out honors when we Dole out praise um not that we you know should be harsh to to other people not at all um but uh you know when when we really single someone out for an accomplishment or single out a team for an accomplishment you know making them feel like they have been singled out for that recognition really puts puts that experience you know on a pedestal for them right that's where the the term comes from and it it shows them that their efforts have been

[18:09] truly recognized truly rewarded truly appreciated and so going back to the original topic the different holidays for uh for military people I encourage you to remember these distinctions and and if you offer um wishes greetings whatever on one of these three holidays that that you do so um in line with what each one of them means so um you know again Memorial Day for uh service members who died um in

[18:47] while while in in service to their country uh Veterans Day for people who have uh who served in the military and are now back in civilian life and Armed Forces Day for people who are currently serving each group um you know I this may sound self- serving but I think each group is imminently worthwhile of of recognition um and and yet um the recognition I think is Multiplied when we remember the distinctions be between the three holidays so just a you know a

[19:23] short little thought for for today um you know at this uh you coming here after after the end of military appreciation week and uh I I you know I I thank you for for joining me and and and listening to my thoughts on this subject and I invite your your comments your your thoughts you know especially if you disagree with me always uh happy to uh entertain disagreements um and you can you can drop a a comment into our social media um or you can always send me an email if

[19:58] it's something um you know private that you you you you don't want uh um you know other people to see and um I will be uh very happy to to respond to you and and I assure you I will treat treat you decently even if you uh you know vehemently disagree uh with my opinion so again thanks so much uh for joining me today uh tomorrow at 10: amm is my show people making money and my topic is becoming wealthy so um the I think the topic kind of speaks for itself so I

[20:34] invite you to join me for that and um I I I'm I'm think you will find it uh interesting and then next week starting on Monday at 10: am is the next edition of trusts and Estates weekly all the times of course are Pacific time and then one week from today we'll be back for the next edition of business lessons from the military so thanks again for joining me wishing you a wonderful rest of the day and signing off as I always do Marie you are my bell all the best folks