Memorial Day

For a lot of people, Memorial Day is characterized by the Indy 500 auto race, regular season baseball games being played in the middle of spring, barbeque grilling, a few fireworks or parades being put together, and a general idea amongst people that this is a well earned day off from work holiday, and that we are supposed to be remembering “something” about the people who have been lost in the military.

I, for one, would have to admit that I have been one who has fallen into that latter category of people who certainly appreciate the day off, but have not really grasped the argument of why there should be such a big deal made over all of the soldiers who have ever served in the military. I mean, incidents have happened where some soldiers have been guilty of the massacre of citizens, have shown cowardice, have been dishonorably discharged, etc. Not ALL people in the military are saints.

I must admit that I am not necessarily a fan of the current way our media has tried to present an all out glorification of all things military in our culture. Wasn’t the all out glorification of the military that which led to the changing over of the Roman Republic into a country instead led by dictatorial emperors? Emperors whose source of strength and power was their control over and affiliation with their nation’s military?

But, something about my ideas about Memorial Day changed today. There have been documentaries on the tube today about some of the surviving veterans of World War II on some of the PBS stations, and in them, the significance of what some of the men faced in having to go through such things as D-Day at Normandy or in the Battle of the Bulge in the Ardennes Forest, was very clearly shown. And in these shows, the magnitude of what exactly was being faced by the soldiers and what exactly it was that they had to go through just to survive was very eye opening.  Courage is often in making the difficult choice, by doing what HAS to be done in times of crisis, even at the risk of your own death.

The soldiers that are fighting in the various military situations today certainly have their battlefield difficulties they have to deal with, but in nearly all situations, our fighting men are in the superior army with the superior weapons. Compare that with the powerful fighting forces of both the German and the Japanese armies our soldiers had to battle during World War II. Gulf War, Vietnam and Korean War soldiers had it bad, WWII had it worse.

The Korean, Vietnam and Gulf Wars, they were fighting those because the politicians and the industrial-military complex “wanted” those wars. World War II soldiers from the United States were fighting to help prevent a dictator from conquering the world.

So, the American soldiers of World War II were motivated to storm the beaches at Normandy with thousands of bullets and mortar shells cutting them to pieces. They showed (on these documentaries) a level of courage there that was almost unmatched in the history of warfare. They helped the countries of Belgium and France become liberated from the tyrannical hold of the Nazi German occupation. Germany could just as easily have won that war without the sacrifices from so many. The soldiers all said they just did what they had to do. In so doing “what they did,” these veterans of a war from 70 years earlier were shown to be true heroes in the lands that they helped liberate.

It was seeing these old codgers (that’s what they looked like to the naked eye) be looked at with such reverence by the younger people (many of them children of the people who were alive during the war) of these European countries that made me realize that these American war heroes from World War II were amongst the last of the truly heroic people in America today. They are old now, but what they accomplished during their lifetime will be remembered FOREVER.

These were people who, during their lifetime, helped change the course of the entire world with their actions. These are people who truly made a difference with their lives. Not like the celebrity worship in the America of today. The worship of television personalities, movie stars, athletes, hip hop music stars, reality TV stars, etc., who haven’t really done much of anything (and whose “accomplishments” will probably be completely forgotten 50 years from now) to make a difference in the world, has replaced the admiration for people who really did or are doing something significant.

The soldiers who fought in World War II, who are now up there in their high 80’s/early 90’s in age, are the closest thing our country has to being “real heroes” in the great scheme of things today. Not the faux celebrities that are getting all of the publicity. THESE people. These men who humbly say they were just out there on the battlefield “just doing the job they were supposed to do.”

And who do these men say are the “real heroes?” To a man, these World War II veterans say that it is not them, but rather the guys who never made it home –the guys who are buried in the various WWII cemetaries of Western Europe — THOSE are the “real heroes” that deserve to be honored. The soldiers that died for Europe’s, as well as OUR freedom.

In other words, the same people who we are “supposed” to be honoring every Memorial Day actually turn out to be the ones who SHOULD be honored and remembered. Those who died in battle (whether it’s in World War II or the other American wars) really do deserve to be honored in any way possible. If it takes a day called Memorial Day for people to recognize their accomplishments and sacrifices, then I am all for it.

I hope that everybody takes that extra minute or two away from their baseball games, their beer and their barbeques to give a few thanks to those who gave their lives for their country. It really hit home today. It’s the true meaning of Memorial Day.