Memorial Day - It is about honoring those sacrifices
While they are debts we cannot repay, we honor them by helping to ensure that the next generation receives what our heroes have given so much for.
Indeed, most have little knowledge of or connection to the Memorial Day events. First, a long weekend of the summer, and most will be thinking of anything but Memorial Day. It is a reality that those who have served this country in uniform, and their families are less than 1% of the population. Most people today would not be able to tell you why we celebrate Memorial Day.
This weekend our cities will be decorated with cookouts, and the American flag will be flying along downtown streets all across America. There will be memorial ceremonies held at National Cemeteries, and small local cemeteries, where veterans' bodies buried beneath broad, trimmed grounds marked with long, regimented rows of white marker stones.
Some people will gather in those places of rest around the country to remember their family members who died in service. Others will come to honor all who have served the nation in times of war and times of peace. The flag will be raised solemnly as the National Anthem plays or sung. The plangent, melancholy notes of "Taps" will waft over the silent grounds. The old veterans in attendance recognized by their baseball hats emblazoned with military branch insignias, or with the names of the wars, he/she entered. They will stand at awkward attention and salute at the raising of the flag, or during the playing of "Taps." Their eyes and cheeks may be moist with tears because they will remember fallen brothers and sisters in ways most cannot imagine.
Why, then, should we all remember?
It is not wars that we remember with this national holiday. Instead, we remember those who served and those who gave their last full measure of devotion to ensure that the freedoms that this country offers to all would be able to be passed on to the next generations. We remember them because they tell us something about our human dignity. They remind us of the cost of freedom and the quality of our character as a nation. We do not gather on this holiday to glorify wars. Somewhat, we are challenged to remember that when war comes unbidden to us, some are willing to give their all to defend this nation. Deep down, we want to remember in the hope that we will find ways to prevent wars and never again have to fight them. There is, among veterans, no more expected desire than the desire that their sons and daughters will never have to suffer the terrors of war or the effects of war.
When I lay me down
Bury me somewhere I served
Let my ashes burn the earth
Please forgive me for the lives I took.
Moreover, all I ask,
There is a second look.
On my 18th birthday, I graduated from basic training.
At 19, I was trained to fly and scale buildings.
At 20, I graduated as an elite Army Ranger.
On my 21st birthday, the creed "to never leave a man behind," was the point of no return in Mogadishu, Somalia.
As the day slowly turned to dusk,
I knew retaliation was a must.
As a soldier, it is not our job
To question the politics behind the conflict.
It is our job to execute.
The line was drawn
Moreover, I knew it would not belong
Before the impossible task and weapons began to fire.
As a true patriot and a prior member of the United States Army, I would have gladly died in battle defending my homeland. I love my country more than my own life. The most honorable thing a man can do is lay down his life for his country and his loved ones. Like those heroes who spilled their blood-fighting in War World I & II, I, too, would forfeit everything to win for a country the right to have freedom. The truth is that many countries do not have true freedom as American's enjoy. I only regret that I have but one life to lose for but one nation. I would not hesitate to give my life for or against any other noble country. Come to think of it; I have been caught in the crossfire during a heroic peacekeeping effort; I just prayed that if I encountered death that it would have been in some way related to a country for freedom and independence. I only ask that I would be given a soldier's funeral so that I may be buried holding the flag for our great country. The bottom line is that the current boundaries of a country are worth protecting at all costs. Otherwise, what would so many brave and patriotic souls have lost their lives for? I was lucky enough to be born in one of the most significant countries in the world, and I promised myself long ago that I would never forget it. I had the privilege of protecting this magnificent land against whoever may seek to do it harm and to defend some other country against whoever may attempt to do it harm. There comes a time when all of us, no matter who we are, heed the call to the battlefield. It is a call we cannot and should not ignore, no matter where it is coming from.
Moreover, if I must die, in the service of this or that country, I only hope I can at least take as many of the enemy with me as possible before I fall and breathe my last. Unless, of course, they are also fighting for a country. In which case, their deaths, at my hands, will have been honorable—because they, like me, would have died for a country. Our soldier's deaths in the countless wars we constantly wage to defend our own country against others defending their own country against us would seem arbitrary, almost meaningless. However, as long as we have a higher purpose—the love of whatever country we happen to be fighting for—we will always know we did not lose our lives in vain. We are fighting for the person on our left and right.
You form a bond so tight with fellow soldiers that you never want to let them down. I have seen it displayed every day. Once, I was in Tal Afar for a large-scale, three-day operation. We had birds, 101st Airborne Infantry and artillery, but the fighting always comes down to the individual soldier and his weapon. In Avgoni, nearby Tal Afar, we were moving toward the objective through the very dense terrain. Tall trees, thick brush, and long vines were everywhere. It was so green because of human crap, which flowed to the bottom of the hills and fertilized what appeared to look more like a jungle than an Iraqi village.
Nevertheless, the enemy knew the terrain, and we did not. They posted white T-shirts on the smaller trees, which looked like a person from a distance, setting a trap that we walked right into. At the other end of these decorated trees were about three or four men with AKs and RPGs. When the squad moved into the open zone, the enemy opened fire, nailing the squad leader in each leg. As one of Ranger's fell to the ground, he did not moan in pain; he fired back, killing an insurgent gunner just as he was about to fire an RPG into the squad. Because of this soldier, the man on his left and right are still alive, including me.
I have lost so many friends. However, at the same time, years from now, when I meet with the children of my fallen friends, I do not want to tell them that their father/mother died for oil or politics. Instead, I will say to them that their father/mother fought for their freedom for all Americans. "I think you and all of the soldiers know that...and this is the reason they continue to soldier on. Stay Alert and Stay Alive…