National: NSTR
State: Governor Youngkin $5 billion tax package, the veterans retirment proposal depends on a measure that continues to elude Richmond: the 2022-24 state budget, on which the House of Delegates, Virginia Senate and governor have yet to agree. The military pension tax break would apply to retirees 55 and older, with the exemption increasing over four years from $10,000 to $40,000. It is less pricey than originally proposed, a plus for one of the Democrats who crafted a bipartisan compromise, Sen. Creigh Deeds of Bath. The main sticking point in the current budget negotiations has been over the scope of the tax cuts proposed by Governor Youngkin. The Republican-led House of Delegates largely supports them. Senate Democrats have rejected several key tax proposals, including Youngkin’s push for a gas tax holiday and call to lower income taxes for some filers by doubling the state’s standard deduction.
History and Patriotism-Irish in the Military
This month has two observances to those who serve our nation and to those who have rendered the ultimate sacrifice in the defense of our nation.
Memorial Day (originally known as Decoration Day) is a federal holiday in the United States for mourning the U.S. military personnel who have died while serving in the armed forces of the United States . It is observed on the last Monday of May. It was formerly observed on May 30 from 1868 to 1970.
Irish service to the Union during the Civil War–
Seven Union generals were Irish-born while an estimated 150,000 Irish-Americans fought for the Union during the war. The Irish involvement in the war was prevalent from its very beginning, as the two first recorded combat deaths (suffered at Fort Sumter in April 1861) were Irish born.
Many people visit cemeteries and memorials on Memorial Day to honor and mourn those who died while serving in the U.S. military. Many volunteers place an American flag on graves of military personnel in national cemeteries. Memorial Day is also considered the unofficial beginning of summer in the United States.
Many cities and people have claimed to have first celebrated the event. In 1868, General John A. Logan of the Grand Army of the Republic called for a “Decoration Day”, which was widely celebrated. By 1890, every Northern state had adopted it as a holiday. The World Wars turned it into a generalized day of remembrance, instead of just for the Civil War. In 1971, Congress standardized the holiday as “Memorial Day” and changed its observance to the last Monday in May.
Two other days celebrate those who have served or are serving in the U.S. military: Armed Forces Day (which is earlier in May), an unofficial U.S. holiday for honoring those currently serving in the armed forces, and Veterans Day (on November 11), which honors those who have served in the United States Armed Forces.
TAPS-origin and Memorial Day:
The tune is a variation of an earlier bugle call known as the “Scott Tattoo“, which was used in the U.S. from 1835 until 1860. It was arranged in its present form by the Union Army Brigadier General Daniel Butterfield, an American Civil War general and Medal of Honor recipient. He was a commander in the Army of the Potomac while at Harrison’s Landing, Virginia. Butterfield’s version in July 1862 replaced a previous French bugle call used to signal “lights out”. Butterfield’s bugler, Oliver Wilcox Norton, of East Springfield, Pennsylvania, was the first to sound the new call. Within months “Taps” was used by both Union and Confederate forces. It was officially recognized by the United States Army in 1874.
“Taps” concludes many military funerals conducted with honors at Arlington National Cemetery and elsewhere in the United States. The tune is also sounded at many memorial services in Arlington’s Memorial Amphitheater, such as Memorial Day and at grave sites throughout the cemetery. It is also regularly played at the Colleville su-Mer American Cemetery in Normandy, France, to commemorate the sacrifice made, at and around that site, by United States servicemen in WWII, during the Allied effort to liberate Europe from the Nazis.
As a note, Buttlerfield was born in Utica NY in 1831, near where I was born, and is buried in the West Point Cemetery at the United States Military Academy.
