Obama skips Arlington

President Barack Obama's decision to take a vacation to Chicago during Memorial Day and not place a traditional wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington National Cemetery is truly disturbing. I have no objection to his taking a vacation, even though it is his second in the last 35 days and even though it is during one of the worst oil spills in our history, during a time when the economy and unemployment continue to lose ground, and when North Korea is embarking on war with South Korea.

As a veteran, what is really offensive to me is Obama's judgment to skip the traditional Memorial Day ceremonies at Arlington so he can be in Chicago with his friends. It is hard to accept such disdain for tradition by "The Commander-In-Chief." It explains why many of my active-duty friends do not respect him.

Perhaps Mr. Obama feels there is no need to keep the "Arlington Tradition" alive because he feels the servicemen and women who gave their lives for our country since he took office is George Bush's fault, too.

Mark Desmarais
Hawaii Kai

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It’s truly a national scandal. Obama’s not going to honor our fallen soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery, he’s going to honor our fallen soldiers at Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery.

Only Arlington counts!

The critics were either ignorant of the facts or they failed to mention the 2007 Veterans Day ceremony when Vice President Dick Cheney spoke while President George W. Bush observed the holiday in Texas.

Vice President Dan Quayle laid the wreath at Arlington on Memorial Day, 1992. I recall covering President George H.W. Bush, a distinguished World War II vet, as he marked the holiday that year at his favorite vacation spot, Kennebunkport, Maine, where he spoke to a veterans group.

Back in 1983, a Defense Department official laid the Memorial Day wreath at Arlington when Ronald Reagan was at a G-7 Summit meeting in Williamsburg, Virginia.

Actually, Poppy Bush had so much contempt for the dead at Arlington that he blew it off all four years. W. cared so little about our country and our heritage that he also skipped out on Arlington in 2001 and 2002.

And while our troops were dying in Vietnam, Richard Nixon made the curious choice to spend Memorial Day in 1973 and ‘74 in Key Biscayne, Florida.

[Suddenly, I'm Olbermann.. ]