Memory
Go out, enjoy yourself. Have fun. Visit relatives. Have a few cold ones. Relax.
But somewhere in your day, stop to remember. Ask your kids if they know why we have this special day set aside. Explain it to them.
Yes, it matters.
Then, enjoy the rest of the day.
This year, Memorial day is a bit more in the forefront of my mind as MORE than just another day off work than in prior years. Go fig, what with us engaging in another armed conflict and all...
Actually, one of my co-workers received the call that activated her Reserve status, and she's been gone since the Iraqi-Afghani shenanighans started.
I think she's ok, and while the worst is over with, let's not forget that fate still deals a mean hand in that part of the world.
And another perspective:
http://site-essential.com/blog/25May03.shtml#2023
My kids and I are going to watch "Saving Private Ryan"
I don't have to remember memorial day, because I have never forgotten it.
My late father served in the American Expeditionary Force in France in 1918 with the US Army. Various uncles and older cousins served all over the world with the US armed forces in World War II. I served stateside in the US Army near the end of the Korean War. One day (hopefully not too soon) the US Veterans Administration will put up some of the money to buy me a memorial stone; a sort of final benefit of the so-called GI Bill of Rights enacted after World War II.
As for the future, I'm of mixed mind. I hope none of my children -- or their own children in some future year -- ever have to put on a uniform in the service of Uncle Sam. But I'll be damned proud of them if they do just that. I didn't much care for John F Kennedy as president, but like most other Americans, I was with him in total agreement when he said at his inaugural:
"Ask not what what your country can do for you, but only what you can do for your country."
To the memory of the millions of American men and women buried under the flag of the United States for their services in war or peace, I say:
"Well done. You shall never be forgotten."
Arnold Harris
Mount Horeb WI
Col. David Hackworth, the famous American war hero and soldiers' advocate (widely-read and respected by our military personnel and veterans, Col. Hackworth has been decorated more times than any other American alive today) had earlier posted at his website a good story that was written right before the start of the recent war.
THE WALL
by Alfred A. Hambidge, Jr.
This is a very touching and very moving piece, which symbolizes the feelings of many of our veterans, and many of our fellow citizens, at a time like this. For today, it is especially appropriate.
Our family went to the Ronald Reagan presidential library. Among the exhibits, we saw a picture of President Reagan laying a wreath at the tomb of the unknown soldier one Memorial Day when he was president. I told the girls that while they were happily sleeping in, I watched Bush do the same thing. They then looked at the other exhibits on Reagan and the veterans with renewed interest.