Thoughts on Memorial Day
Memorial Day has special significance in Boalsburg, a small central Pennsylvania town that claims to have started the observance of this holiday. Add to that a shrine to the soldiers lost by the 28th Division of the United States Army at the Pennsylvania Military Museum and you have an ongoing reminder of the sacrifices made by men and women in this country.
With less than 10 percent of our population being veterans or serving actively in the military we owe them a debt of gratitude that’s difficult to repay. We owe them more than a vacation day disguised as a celebration of their service.
Most of us never had the chance to sacrifice for our country until now. Until a global pandemic has swept across the land leaving our people and economy shivering in surprise and fear. Even the rosy predictions from the White House now peg the death toll at 135 thousand citizens by the end of the summer.
Service and sacrifice are at hand now. Each of us has the opportunity to honor the blood shed by our military through our own choices. To reflect their selfless dedication in our own behavior. To put the well being of our friends and family, neighbors and strangers, ahead of ourselves. We have the opportunity to celebrate the fallen men and women and reflect their sacrifice in our own.
I can’t say what that is for anyone but me.
Today I keep my distance from others as I can. And when I can’t I respect them by wearing a face mask. I am generous and give as I can. I remind myself often that all that I have in this life came with a cost. And I continue to hold in my heart that the United States of America a place of kind and honorable people.
I offer my best wishes to each of you on this Memorial Day.
Thank you for your kind thoughts for us veterans. Not only was I In the Air Force, I married a navy man. He was on submarines over 20 years. I would not see him 8-10 months a year. To him it was a duty and a job To me it makes him my hero.
I am grateful for the service you and your husband have given Sandi. It’s not often we hear about duty outside the military. You’re both heroes.
I was especially moved and inspired by your second to the last paragraph beginning with “Today I keep my distance…”.
Thank you Steve.
I generally keep my politics and feelings about country and cause to myself. But every now and again I feel it important to share my boundless gratitude and plain good luck at being born in this country. However flawed our past or present might be, it is a place where each of us has an opportunity to live and grow. While some have a much more difficult road than others, hope remains in a way that other parts of the world have little.
So in whatever small way I can, I try and do my part to be a citizen worthy of the gift of being here.
Thank you for your kind words. I appreciate them.
You’re a good man Steve, and a model citizen. What a world this would be if more people behaved as you do.
I would be uncomfortable taking on the mantle of model citizen. I just try and do what’s right though I admit that sometimes it’s hard to figure out what that might be. Mostly I try and follow the “Golden Rule” from the Gospel of Mark — “…In everything do to others as you would have them do to you…”
Dear Steve,
Your last paragraphs, “Service and Sacrifice are at hand now…”, are beautiful and moving expression of this day. All as haunting as your photographs.
We continue to meet the kind and honorable people of whom you speak. Many more are celebrated in your writings.
Thanks,
John
Thank you John for taking time to stop by and share your thoughts on the post and the day. There are indeed many kind and honorable people.
I’ve sort of lost track of things — are you still on the Cape?
Steve, Your comforting words have a residual meaning as did twenty four years ago when you sat with me trying to find the right words of the passing of Nick. He loved what he was training for in the Military and to this day there are reminders that are in the air that whisper to my old ears of the good stuff i get to see, hear and do.
Thanks Steve,
Peace.
Despite the passage of time those whispers remain, I think for everyone who has experienced loss. Love and grief are intertwined and create a new existence for us.
Not long ago I read a piece by Nick Cave, a musician and artist, that described how the loss of their son affected he and his wife. It offers a perspective you don’t often see. The Red Hand Files — Loss and Grief
I had to leave this one alone for a few days. And instead of coffee, I write this with the assistance of alcohol. In fact, now that I am here I won’t even write what is on my mind, other than to say Memorial Day is about those who died. Do you, the general public, know anyone that died? Probably not. It pisses me off when people say those hollow words, “thank you for your service”. Memorial Day has nothing to do with me or my service.
Well, I apologize I said most of it anyway.
While I don’t have the same emotional connection as you do Ken to how Memorial Day is handled or the rote expressions of support that often leave the lips of people about service, I do agree that the words often seem hollow. I titled the post “Honoring the Dead” because I believe it to be the central aspect of the remembrance. Walking so often through the Pennsylvania Military Museum and reading the names and dates of those lost in wars it feels personal on some level. That it is not about our country as much as about people — the children of moms and dads who died while serving their country.
I had to think a bit about whether I knew anyone personally who died while serving their country. I know of a few classmates from high school who died in Vietnam but I didn’t really know them. Of the men in our family who fought in World War II, Korea and Vietnam, all returned home.
If something bothers me about Memorial Day is how it has relentlessly been co-opted by the political class to manipulate perceptions to their own end. The words “thank you for your service” seems less about real thanks and more about conforming to a societal expectation and that the utterance of the words somehow transforms you into a patriot.
There is an episode of the HBO series “Curb Your Enthusiasm” (Season 9 Episode 5) titled “Thank You For Your Service” in which Larry David ponders out loud on the subject. It also touches on the difference between being a member of the military and being in combat. It makes you wonder about the label “hero” and what that means today. Politics. Manipulation.
No need to apologize Ken. I won’t say thank you for your service but will say thank you for sharing. Not just here but with your riding experience and friendship.
I hope you didn’t end up with any unfortunate headaches as a result of reading my post. I endeavor to provide relaxation and escape!
Steve, my rant was not directed at you or your post.
I assumed as much. Usually when people are pissed with me the conversation begins with, “You’re such an asshole…” *grin*
In France I have visited most of the U.S. War II and Great War cemeteries. It has always been a moving experience when you look out and see thousands of white crosses of soldiers far from home. The greatest experience however was at the smallest cemetery in the town of Draguignan. The story is told here.
http://europediaries2013.blogspot.com/p/our-boys-of-ww-ii.html
I took a group from the Vespa Club de Mediterraneo on another trip to visit. When Alison started introducing “her boys” a few walked away and most of the remaining ones did not have a dry eye. I was concerned that those that left were bored but just the opposite. They said they were so moved they could not stand there as they were on the edge of breaking down in front of everyone.
This is what Memorial Day is about to me.
I agree. Memorial Day should be about those tragic, personal stories of courage and sacrifice. Made by normal people in an ungodly situation. The quote etched in stone at the end of your post, “We who lie here died that future generations might live in peace” is sadly not how things have turned out.
My mother took me to an American Battle Monument when I was a child visiting my grandfather in Germany. I don’t remember where or what it was called but do remember the fields of bright white crosses. I was too young then to understand what I was seeing but do now.
Thank you for sharing the link to the post Ken. Those stories are powerful reminders.