Feels like every day is a celebration of something.
National Grilled Cheese Day – which we can all support – or National Potato Day or, well, you get the idea.
Well, Friday should be a bigger deal, especially here.
(READ MORE: It’s an honor to have the National Medal of Honor Heritage Center in Chattanooga)
Friday is National Medal of Honor Day.
March 25 is the anniversary of the first presentations of the Medal of Honor during the Civil War here in Chattanooga.
When designating Medal of Honor Day in 1991, Congress stated it was an effort to “foster public appreciation and recognition of Medal of Honor recipients,” according to the Medal of Honor website.
Amen.
In Chattanooga, the Charles H. Coolidge National Medal of Honor Heritage Center will be pulling out all the stops.
According to the folks at the museum, in-person and online options will offer a fitting tribute to the 3,511 American heroes who have received the Medal of Honor.
Festivities start with a sunrise wreath-laying ceremony at the Andrews’ Raiders Monument and the Medal of Honor gravesides at the Chattanooga National Cemetery at 7:30.
“Fridays are typically one of our busiest days, and in some ways we are hoping to engage with a lot of folks that may not have even known that Medal of Honor Day was a thing,” the center’s director of operations, Steven Thomas, said in a phone interview Thursday. “But we also believe that a lot of our supporters here in Chattanooga will start the day at the cemetery and be there for the lecture at 5:30 in the evening.”
Among the local options Friday will be a 5:30 p.m. lecture on Jacob Parrott, who received the first Medal of Honor, and the unveiling of the 1904 redesigned Medal of Honor given to Parrott, which will be at Heritage Center temporarily on loan from the museum in his hometown of Kenton, Ohio.
Events also are being held across the country, from the U.S.S. Yorktown in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, to the National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia, that will be viewable to stream online.
Saturday, the Heritage Center will have its next round dedicating bricks as the general public can show their support by purchasing commemorative bricks as a tribute for a loved one.
“The very first national Medal of Honor Day was in 1990, and since then it has not gained a whole lot of popularity outside the military community,” Thomas admitted. “We really want to make it our landmark day by connecting the public with the people who have earned this prestigious honor.
“We want to share their stories because those can show us how to be better people and hone in on the true acts of service that we see every day in our country.”
Hey, we’re all busy. We’re all tired. We’re all rushed from this day to that event. And it may be impossible to make one of these events, either in person or online, Friday.
But give pause at some point, and say a silent thank you – or a public “atta boy” to a member of the armed services – for what the very best among us did to be in the ranks of true American heroes. On Medal of Honor Day, yeah, I think we can all take at least a brief pause, right?
As for the grilled cheese, well, lunch is up to you, of course.
Contact Jay Greeson at jgreeson@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6273. Follow him on Twitter @jgreesontfp.
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Jay Greeson