I just heard the most heartbreaking radio interview.

[NightTrain]

On today's "Democracy Now," Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez interviewed the parents of Sgt. Sherwood Baker, who was recently killed in Iraq. The 30-year-old Baker was the first U.S. National Guardsman killed in combat since 1945. I never knew Sherwood Baker, but the way his parents described him, he sounded like a man with whom I would've had a lot to discuss.

Before he was called up to go to Iraq in March, Baker worked full-time at a childcare center and moonlighted as a disc jockey. That would've given us two pieces of common ground right there. Plus, he and his parents had participated in various marches in Washington, D.C., and he had written to his legislators some years back to urge them to make Martin Luther King Day a national holiday. Sgt. Baker also believed that America needed to learn from its mistakes in order to grow and progress. His mother said that Baker joined the National Guard because he loved his country and wanted to do his part to make it a better place for all Americans.

When Sherwood Baker died in Iraq in April 26th, he left behind his wife and 9-year-old son. On the radio today, the man's parents continually choked back tears of grief and outrage. I can't find the words to properly relate just how badly I felt for those people.

Goddammit, this insanity needs to stop!!! :grr::cry:

[Mistress Quickly]

1. Was he the Coast Guard guy?

I'm pretty sure he wasn't the first National Guardsman killed in Iraq.

[NightTrain]

3. Not sure.

n/t

[truthseeker1]

2. Yes, I heard that this morning too....

was very sad - the letter from the brother to Bush was good too.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

4. The MLK thing

It succeeded, right? When did MLK day become a national holiday?

[NightTrain]

5. Good question.

Yes, MLK Day is now a national holiday. I'm damned if I can remember exactly when it became one, though. Sorry....

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

6. Turning to everybody's collective brain, Google - aha!

http://www.factmonster.com/spot/mlkhistory1.html

Congress passed the holiday legislation in 1983, which was then signed into law by President Ronald Reagan. A compromise moving the holiday from Jan. 15, King's birthday, which was considered too close to Christmas and New Year's, to the third Monday in January helped overcome opposition to the law.

National Consensus on the Holiday

A number of states resisted celebrating the holiday. Some opponents said King did not deserve his own holiday—contending that the entire civil rights movement rather than one individual, however instrumental, should be honored. Several southern states include celebrations for various Confederate generals on that day, while Utah calls it Human Rights Day. Legislation is now pending to change the name to Martin Luther King Day. Arizona voters approved the holiday in 1992 after a threatened tourist boycott. In 1999, New Hampshire changed the name of Civil Rights Day to Martin Luther King, Jr., Day.