That there is a federal holiday for Christopher Columbus has confused me for some time, as the man is not, at least in my eyes and in the eyes of many others, deserving of a federal holiday especially when there are so many more who are.

One such person I consider deserving is Marquis de Lafayette, a Frenchman who fought in the American Revolution at such battles as Brandywine, Rhode Island, and Yorktown, and played a key role in getting French support for the revolution, because he believed our cause was noble.

If Columbus Day is replaced with Lafayette Day, then it will still be a holiday in honor of a foreigner who made a profound impact on early American history, but instead it would be for one of America's first war heroes.