Today is Memorial Day. It’s a day to remember the sacrifice it took to establish and not only keep this country but make it worthy of the price paid in service, sacrifice and blood. The expression ‘Happy Memorial Day’ has always grated on me. In my own opinion too many people focus as much or more on cookouts, the first ‘beach weekend’ and sales as why we even have this holiday. Too many give little, if any thought to all those graves marked with a small, simple flag. I think about them and it dominates my thoughts each and every Memorial Day. I, and ALL of us owe this day and the men and women we honor that.
If you visit a cemetery today and see a veteran’s grave marker note a date and place they were killed in action I know you will make special note of it. And be especially thankful for their sacrifice. However as I wrote last night and have said before, those with flagged graves often have died, or died before their time due to their service. Some might have been evacuated and kept alive at a field hospital only to succumb to their wounds weeks or months later. Others sustain injuries both physical and psychological that sometimes take years, or even decades to finally kill them. Some die from service related injuries in training to go to war.
They are as deserving of our gratitude as those who died on battlefields. Countless died due to something people never think about. “Smoke em if you’ve got em”, or “The smoking lamp is lit” are expressions some of us are old enough to remember from our days in the service. In WWII every field ration contained a ‘mini-pack’ of cigarettes and waterproof matches. The USO and other organizations kept troops well supplied even in battle with full packs, even cartons of the things! So many who never smoked got hooked. My own dad was one of them. He was lucky his shot to hell bomber made it back to base, and that will all his wounds he was alive and the doctors were able to save him. Multiple surgeries left his torso badly scarred but physically he was ok eventually. (Psychologically was another matter) However, like so many while he’d never smoked before he took up the habit during WWII and (again) like so many was unable to kick it. He died of lung cancer at age 57. Yes, military service can damage or end lives in ways we never think about.
Those who served in the armed forces aren’t the only ones who have risked all and paid the ultimate price while serving this country. They too should be remembered and honored today. And I will do so. All day long I will think about those who gave so much more than I did. I will give thanks for them and what they gave. I will also alternate between anger and grief over what has happened to my country in the past decade. We have a President who during his first term stood in Arlington National Cemetery on a Memorial Day at the grave of the son of his Chief of Staff. John Kelly had been a Marine General and his son was a Marine Officer who was killed in combat. Trump gestured in genuine puzzlement and said “I don’t get it. What was in it for them?”
In addition to his comments about those who’ve served being “suckers and losers” there’s no doubt Cadet Bone Spurs aka Donald Trump is dismissive, if not contemptuous of those willing to do what he was too selfish and cowardly to do. Yet, if only by a thin margin he’s President again. And has appointed equally appalling people to critical positions in our national security leadership. Shortly after his election in 2016 I ran into the manager of my apartment complex at the Walmart next door. Being from a Marine family she wished me a belated “Happy Birthday”, a traditional thing with Marines r.e. November 10th each year. When she added thank you for serving I blurted out “It didn’t mean a goddamned thing. Not in a country that could allow someone like Trump to become President.”
If you suspect I harbor the same feeling you’re correct. It’s only grown more intense. Don’t talk to me about how Trump only barely won last November. The fact he could even be nominated and it was close heading into election day tells ME this country isn’t worthy of all the sacrifice, the blood spilled, the limbs and even lives lost to make this country the leader of the free world. Because we aren’t anymore. We DO however have a chance to someday become worthy again of the price those we honor today paid. And that’s what I’ll spend the rest of my years (hopefully many) working towards.
So Memorial Day in particular is something I make it a point to feel deep in my heart. It’s a renewal of a duty I feel to honor what it took to make this country what it was and give thanks to the price people have paid to make it so. I will over and over again today think about it, and people I’ve known who gave much more than I did. I will think about the service of my father in WWII and others in my hometown. I would learn some suffered horribly, yet they carried on and did their best to lead lives of purpose and dignity. I’ll think about guys I knew who went to Vietnam including the fact some came home in steel coffins. I’ll think of people I served with while on active duty. Again and again I’ll give thanks for them and others, including as I’ve noted those who risked just as greatly although not in uniform.
Here’s what I will NOT do. Each year a service at Arlington National Cemetery is the focus of Memorial Day. I refuse to watch Trump or anyone he designates to attend because he can’t be bothered stand there and talk about honor and sacrifice. Trump, down to his DNA is the opposite of those buried under all those headstones with the American flag stuck in the ground today. Anyone serving in his administration DIS-honors them as well. I have pictures and videos of Trump-less observances of Memorial Day at Arlington. And other places. I’ll stick with that. But Trump or his minions stomping around? No f**king way. I think of the countless times I was in Arlington National Cemetery (stationed next to it) and the awe and reverence I felt. Trump and his minions don’t just dishonor the dead when they are there. They DEFILE it! I simply can’t take seeing them cosplay patriotism and caring about those who served.
Finally, I’ll keep in mind a trite but true saying – Freedom isn’t free. It isn’t. It comes at a cost we can’t even imagine although at least on this day we should try hard as we can to to envision. We owe those under those grave markers with their flags that much.
Have an honorable Memorial Day. Semper Fidelis is something that extends beyond my Marine Corps today.
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Very well said, Denis! Thank you for sharing your thoughts and feelings, I could not agree more.
Thank you, Dennis. Like so many others, I think of those killed in battle on this day. But you’re so right. There are so many others who deserve our attention. I would extend it to the families of those who gave their lives. Their loss lives forever. And I agree with the feeling of contempt and disgust I feel when I see these liars and cheats pretending to care about our country and its people. They only care for themselves and what they can get out of the rest of us. A pox on them. May they burn in hell forever.
Thank you for mentioning the families. I intended to. I really did when I started writing. I kept breaking down as I worked on it and had a nagging feeling I’d left out something important when I hit the publish button. You pointed out what I failed to. So again I thank you for speaking up.
Ohhhh, Denis. Your pieces yesterday and today have kicked me in the gut. No, that’s not a bad thing. They made me cry, they made me think MORE, and they made me remember how lucky my grandfather was. He didn’t pass from something related to the war. He died due to late onset diabetes and gangrene. I did okay during his funeral until they played Taps. Then I lost it, and I’m doing so right now just remembering. Our service members are so much more than numbers. They are people. PEOPLE. Our current “government” needs to burn in hell. They’ll never understand.