Honor
I read a blog today on The Washington Post. It’s by a Veteran and why he hates ‘Happy Memorial Day’.
In the post he says “I’m frustrated by Memorial Day. And I’m angry about apathy.” He also says he doesn’t want to be ‘thanked for his service’ and he’s angry about what Memorial Day has come to mean. As he put it,
“we’ve turned it into a day off work, a tent sale and a keg of beer.”
And he’s right.
I completely understand his anger and frustration; and while I agree with him, I’d like to offer another point of view.
Long ago, it seems another lifetime ago sometimes, I was a Flight Commander in the 8th Air Force, 2nd Bombardment Wing, Honor Guard; Strategic Air Command (I told you it was a long time ago, SAC doesn’t even exist anymore).
I served during the first Gulf War and Operation Desert Storm. That was the first of the ‘new’ wars, the kind we watched virtually live on tv. The kind that CNN updated round the clock with reporters in the field broadcasting from cell phones and sat phones.
People then didn’t know what to make of the war, why we were fighting it, and how quickly it was over, sort of.
No one stopped us to ‘thank us’ for our service. Nor were we persecuted like those returning from Vietnam. We were, for the most part, simply ignored.
For five years I served on an elite Honor Guard. Our training was born from training we had received by the ‘Presidential USAF Honor Guard’ and while we might not have been as elite as they were we did our best to uphold that standard.
I attended and presided over more funerals than I can count. At least once a week, sometimes twice, sometimes three and four times a week, we performed funeral ceremonies for military personnel in the 5 state region we covered. All branches. I honored their service and sacrifice whether in times of battle or simply after a long life of service, every week. My team laid to rest retirees, active duty, and members of the military who had served in WWII.
So while I understand the posters anger and frustration, I would also like to say that whether the population at large honors them the same way those of us in the military do or not isn’t the point. I marched in a Memorial Day parade today, the first since my days on the Honor Guard, and although I wasn’t representing veterans, the streets were lines with patriotic Americans, waving flags, and clapping for the Military whenever it marched or drove by.
They may not have known someone personally who passed away, but they paid their respects just the same. Standing and clapping for the older Veterans in the procession. Holding signs of remembrance.
In some ways, I’m glad they weren’t all at the cemeteries. It would have spoiled the sanctity of the resting places with over 10,000 people traipsing through.
If American’s want to honor Memorial Day with a day off work, a barbecue, and a drink who am I to say it’s wrong. The freedom for them to do so was what the fight was all for after all.
Yes, we could all do more to pay our respects to the fallen. I hope that at some point those who remember teach those who don’t and that it passes on to the next generation. At the same time, I hope people still ‘thank you for your service’ when they see you in uniform. I hope they recognize the sacrifices made by those who died, and those who survived, not to mention the families who sometimes sacrifice in silence. I cannot speak for all Veterans, only this one. I have attended far too many funerals to want the country to spend a day in mourning.
Let us salute the fallen. Remember the lost. Honor all. By whatever method and in whatever way you see fit.