Welcome...and initial guidelines...

This blog will be used in the spring of 2008 by 80+ students at Drexel University to investigate the effects of Iraq on culture and the reverse. Our goal will be to better understand why the US is in Iraq, and to question whether literature can help us on this journey.

Weekly plans and other materials will always be posted in Vista, not this blog. So go to Bb Vista to get the discussion prompts and other instructions.

I intend this blog to manage our discussions and track our collective investigation.

You should have received an email from me inviting you to become a contributor to this blog. The email was sent Monday afternoon to your official Drexel email address.

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Weekend On the Beach

This past weekend, I went down to the Jersey Shore for the holiday. I spent the long four day weekend in the wonderful town of Wildwood. While most of my weekend was spent far from thinking about the the true meaning of the holiday, I was able to look back on the weekend and realize what Memorial Day is really about.

As I sat on the beach during the day, I began thinking about the privileges I have and I got them. Now I'm not by any means a history buff but the one thing I did think about was the storming of the beaches at Normandy. As I sat on the beach so peacefully with no worries, I thought about all those soldiers, on both sides of the battle, they were on the beach that die dying for the freedom of others. The pure fact the I have the ability to go to the beach was given to me by others and for that I am very grateful. I am grateful that others were willing to go and fight for my freedom and were willing to lay down their lives. I now look at Memorial Day in a different light. In the past, I always knew Memorial Day as the start of the summer at the shore season. This weekend has always been to kick off weekend for summer enjoyment and now I realize the true meaning of the holiday: it is a day for us to remember all those men and women who have served our country faithfully and given themselves up for the happiness of others.

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