Memorial Day is upon us. Although its official origin is somewhat debated, we know that as far back as the middle of the Civil War people decorated the graves of fallen soldiers on both sides of the conflict. Indeed, for many years the term “Decoration Day” was synonymous with Memorial Day. The decorating eventually expanded to include the graves of any loved one who had passed away. For many years I helped my mom plant flowers on the grave of my Italian grandparents. I was glad to help, but because I never knew them, the effort did not tug on my heart as it would with my own parents. Still, at an early age, I was made aware that I was part of a family that reached back generations and I was acknowledging them and honoring them with this effort.
Times Past
It is impossible to remember what you have not experienced first-hand. Those who have not lived through military conflicts rely on the stories, textbooks, biographies, and reports of prior conflicts and those who were drawn into them. While many Americans alive today have served our country well in the various branches of the military, most Americans living today haven’t felt the heat of combat or the ripple effects of it.
My parents told of how during World War II they would wait for the newspaper each day to see how the frontline of combat in Europe had advanced or receded. There were of course no internet news sources to give minute-by-minute updates on the fighting. At that point, every family in the U.S. was touched by the war, either with family members fighting in or working in industries that supported the war effort or through experiencing the rationing of essentials needed in the production of war goods. When the Gulf War broke out, we were privy to live video of the bombings as they were taking place. How strange, I thought, that we are watching this like it’s just the next show on the TV. I almost felt like I was peering into something that should have been private or sacred.
A Current Analogy
The rationing and restrictions that came with the COVID pandemic were an utterly foreign experience for our current generation that has been raised in excess. I feel the pandemic was the closest thing we have had that resembles a world war. It touched every country on every continent, with its menacing tentacles snatching all people of every stratus of every culture around the world.
Obviously, there was no physical combat between opponents, but the essential difference between the pandemic and a world war situation is this: during WWII, citizens lacked many material things, certainly not many fun things, but they had the tangible, physical presence, and support of each other. Neighbors hearing of the loss of a loved one in a raging battle overseas could rush to the family of the fallen soldier and offer hugs, words of condolence, and sit with them in a sign of support. In the COVID battle, for the most part, we had all the material things we needed and more (no shortage of communication and home entertainment options,) but we were prevented from being in a close physical relationship with each other.
The warfare was emotional, psychological. We were boxing with a ghost. The blaring difference between war and widespread disease is that in war there’s an objective, a campaign that’s being attempted (“right” or “wrong”), whereas disease simply leaves up empty, with loss and nothing much to show for it. Alas, while the value of choice exercised in the waging war can be and has been argued, the reality of the attacks of disease is a fixture in our world and confronts us without choice.
Pause
Some may object to the idea of celebrating the loss of soldiers’ lives for the American cause, with claims that America has been inconsistent in carrying out its stated goals. There is truth in that to an extent. That debate is not the purpose of this article. Similar to a spouse one chooses, or a child one has created, you gotta love them, warts and all, and this country has all kinds of ugliness on the surface and worse problems underneath. However, as a citizen of the United States of America, I walk about freely, had an opportunity to be broadly educated, am free to own property, and free to even write this article without censorship.
I am aware that this did not just happen. It was Bunker Hill and Yorktown, Gettysburg and Antietam, Gallipoli and Megiddo, Normandy and Pearl Harbor, Korea, Vietnam, and Desert Storm, and the never-ending war on terror. Each demanded the bravery and sacrifice of some so that many can live protected under the rule of law.
So, this Memorial Day I plan to do better, to pause for a time, to remember the hundreds of thousands that have given their lives for the defense of the principles on which our country has stood, and to thank God for His blessing that even with our mistakes, sins, inconsistencies, scars, and warts, we have a country that allows us to reach for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
