thedrifter
09-12-05, 07:01 PM
Quantico Marines celebrate Labor Day holiday
MCB Quantico
Story by: Cpl. J. Agg
MARINE CORPS BASE QUANTICO, Va.(Sept. 6, 2005) -- As far as federal holidays go, Labor Day offers one of the best deals around. There are no flowers to buy, no cards to send and no guilt to feign. And, if you’re a Quantico Marine, you’ll get two extra days tacked onto your weekend.
But how many Marines, as they squirmed impatiently through a holiday safety brief Friday, anxiously anticipating the moment they would escape to their barracks rooms or homes and families, actually knew the history behind the holiday?
Corporal Michael Brann, a mortar instructor at The Basic School, like many Quantico Marines, freely admits the history of Labor Day is lost on him.
“I have no idea,” said Brann, who spent the holiday at Lunga Park with Marianne, his wife, and Gunner, the couple’s Labrador-Great Dane mixed breed dog. “It’s just another day off. I celebrated Labor Day by not doing any labor.”
Stephanie Boozer, who enjoyed the 96-hour holiday with her husband Sgt. Matthew Boozer, assistant operations officer at Weapons Training Battalion Precision Weapons Section, and daughter Briana, 5, likewise had no idea why the family had two extra days to share together, but was grateful just the same.
“All I know is I don’t have to work,” said Boozer. “We celebrated (Sunday). We were barbecuing and the kids were playing. With (current) gas prices, we weren’t going to travel too far.”
Labor Day, perhaps the most taken-for-granted federal holiday celebrated in the U.S., was once more than a last summer fling for school children and college students, and an outdoor recreation opportunity in the waning days of summer before the onset of Fall. It was actually a product of the U.S. and Canadian labor movement of the late 19th Century.
There is disagreement among historians as to whether the holiday was first proposed in 1882 by Peter J. McGuire, a New York carpenter and co-founder of the American Federation of Labor, or Matthew McGuire, a machinist and later the secretary of Local 344 of the International Association of Machinists in Patterson, N.J. However, the first Labor Day holiday observance was undoubtedly held Tuesday, Sept. 5, 1882, as 10,000 New York City workers, organized by the Central Labor Union, marched up Broadway to Union Square.
The parade was held again the following year, and in 1884, the first Monday in September was selected to be the holiday. The Central Labor Union encouraged the spread of the annual “workingmen’s holiday” in other urban centers across the country. Eventually, President Grover Cleveland, under voter pressure in 1894, signed a Labor Day holiday bill.
And while many Marines headed for home early Friday blissfully ignorant of the political origins of Labor Day, some headed out for the weekend with at least a rudimentary understanding of the holiday’s significance.
Col. Mark A. Brilakis, Weapons Training Battalion commanding officer, ensured each of his Marines who attended the battalion safety brief Friday received a history lesson, as he read aloud the story and tradition behind the Labor Day holiday.
Sergeant Maj. Lorne C. Cunningham, Weapons Training Battalion sergeant major, said the Marines seemed to appreciate the lesson.
“You’ve got some very intelligent Marines out there, but … I would probably say a majority of the people had no clue of what (Labor Day) really stood for,” said Cunningham. “I’m sure a lot of people really grasped that information and said, “Wow. I never paid attention to it except that it’s another holiday.” I think they were intrigued to hear (the history) and to learn something about Labor Day.”
Cunningham said it is important to understand the history behind a national holiday and to celebrate accordingly.
“Anytime there is a holiday routine, whether it’s Independence Day, Memorial Day, or whatever, Col. Brilakis is there making his speeches,” said Cuningham. “He always talks a little bit about the history and what it stands for, and how we as Marines and Americans should be celebrating what it’s really for.”
Ellie
MCB Quantico
Story by: Cpl. J. Agg
MARINE CORPS BASE QUANTICO, Va.(Sept. 6, 2005) -- As far as federal holidays go, Labor Day offers one of the best deals around. There are no flowers to buy, no cards to send and no guilt to feign. And, if you’re a Quantico Marine, you’ll get two extra days tacked onto your weekend.
But how many Marines, as they squirmed impatiently through a holiday safety brief Friday, anxiously anticipating the moment they would escape to their barracks rooms or homes and families, actually knew the history behind the holiday?
Corporal Michael Brann, a mortar instructor at The Basic School, like many Quantico Marines, freely admits the history of Labor Day is lost on him.
“I have no idea,” said Brann, who spent the holiday at Lunga Park with Marianne, his wife, and Gunner, the couple’s Labrador-Great Dane mixed breed dog. “It’s just another day off. I celebrated Labor Day by not doing any labor.”
Stephanie Boozer, who enjoyed the 96-hour holiday with her husband Sgt. Matthew Boozer, assistant operations officer at Weapons Training Battalion Precision Weapons Section, and daughter Briana, 5, likewise had no idea why the family had two extra days to share together, but was grateful just the same.
“All I know is I don’t have to work,” said Boozer. “We celebrated (Sunday). We were barbecuing and the kids were playing. With (current) gas prices, we weren’t going to travel too far.”
Labor Day, perhaps the most taken-for-granted federal holiday celebrated in the U.S., was once more than a last summer fling for school children and college students, and an outdoor recreation opportunity in the waning days of summer before the onset of Fall. It was actually a product of the U.S. and Canadian labor movement of the late 19th Century.
There is disagreement among historians as to whether the holiday was first proposed in 1882 by Peter J. McGuire, a New York carpenter and co-founder of the American Federation of Labor, or Matthew McGuire, a machinist and later the secretary of Local 344 of the International Association of Machinists in Patterson, N.J. However, the first Labor Day holiday observance was undoubtedly held Tuesday, Sept. 5, 1882, as 10,000 New York City workers, organized by the Central Labor Union, marched up Broadway to Union Square.
The parade was held again the following year, and in 1884, the first Monday in September was selected to be the holiday. The Central Labor Union encouraged the spread of the annual “workingmen’s holiday” in other urban centers across the country. Eventually, President Grover Cleveland, under voter pressure in 1894, signed a Labor Day holiday bill.
And while many Marines headed for home early Friday blissfully ignorant of the political origins of Labor Day, some headed out for the weekend with at least a rudimentary understanding of the holiday’s significance.
Col. Mark A. Brilakis, Weapons Training Battalion commanding officer, ensured each of his Marines who attended the battalion safety brief Friday received a history lesson, as he read aloud the story and tradition behind the Labor Day holiday.
Sergeant Maj. Lorne C. Cunningham, Weapons Training Battalion sergeant major, said the Marines seemed to appreciate the lesson.
“You’ve got some very intelligent Marines out there, but … I would probably say a majority of the people had no clue of what (Labor Day) really stood for,” said Cunningham. “I’m sure a lot of people really grasped that information and said, “Wow. I never paid attention to it except that it’s another holiday.” I think they were intrigued to hear (the history) and to learn something about Labor Day.”
Cunningham said it is important to understand the history behind a national holiday and to celebrate accordingly.
“Anytime there is a holiday routine, whether it’s Independence Day, Memorial Day, or whatever, Col. Brilakis is there making his speeches,” said Cuningham. “He always talks a little bit about the history and what it stands for, and how we as Marines and Americans should be celebrating what it’s really for.”
Ellie