If not for the Spanish-American War, people in several island nations would likely be leading very different lifestyles today. The brief hostilities left the U. S. with possession of Guam, Puerto Rico and the Philippines and temporary control of Cuba.
MEADVILLE, Pa. (Tribune News Service) — Given the purpose of Memorial Day – to remember those who have died in service to the nation – it seems fitting that this year’s Meadville Memorial Day Observance is devoted to a war that remains largely forgotten today, despite its long-lasting effects.
For featured speaker Rich Krankota, the Crawford County veterans services officer, the holiday is less about the war and more about the veterans who fought in it and the nation’s other conflicts.
«It’s for the veterans that have gone before us,» he said this week as he was looking over the speech he had prepared for the occasion. «That’s why we’re here – because of those who paid the ultimate sacrifice.»
Too often, Krankota said, Memorial Day’s status as the unofficial start to summer obscures its true purpose of honoring those who have died in military service. Hopefully, he added, Monday’s event will change some minds.
«If it wasn’t for them, we wouldn’t be able to do the things we do,» Krankota said. «We wouldn’t be enjoying the life, liberty and pursuit of happiness that our nation was founded on – we might have a whole different lifestyle.»
If not for the Spanish-American War, people in several island nations would likely be leading very different lifestyles today as well.
