Hope and Memorial Day

The month of May begins with hope … the hope of a new spring and for kids the hope that the school year will soon be over.  The month ends with that hope rewarded … Memorial Day … which has become the unofficial kickoff of summer … a weekend filled with All-American Picnics, Parades and Pies.  The way our lives shift gear on a dime, Memorial Day and Labor Day are major changes for us and mean the next phase of the year is starting.  What should Memorial Day mean to us?

Memorial Day was originally called Decoration Day and was intended as a day to honor those that died fighting the Civil War.  Time passed, new wars were fought and after World War I, Memorial Day became a time to honor all those who died fighting for our country.  As the discussion related to Veterans Day has continued and it has seemingly lost its status as a holiday for Norwalk’s schoolchildren, one must wonder where that leaves Memorial Day.

The one interesting change in the holiday might be that in the past Memorial Day was an occasion for veterans, politicians and ministers to make speeches commemorating wars and oddly, the atrocities committed within them.  The commonality of the horrors of war lead to an inadvertent unifying force within the American people that drew together all classes, races, religions into a celebration of what Robert Bellah called the American Civil Religion. 

The trappings are still here.  We shall soon see the Indy 500 and our lives will all flow through this common experience together before we go back to our individual pursuits.  I think that much of the common experience Americans once had … think back to our Leave it to Beaver days … has been splintered.  So, the variety that is the spice of life has overcome a lot of the small things we used to enjoy together as a nation. The common experience of everyday life … whether it was TV, magazines, parades and speeches, or just a walk in the park … used to mean something to us. Now, we are more likely to be bumped into by someone texting and walking than by a neighbor looking to chat. 

It is a different world.  We thought we knew what change was after Kennedy was assassinated, after Watergate, after Vietnam. Now the new post-modern is again redefined. What is Summer 2011 going to mean to us?

Given the death of Osama Bin Laden, I feel our country is going to enter a new era as well.  We have seen the beginning of the end of the war in Iraq, perhaps the beginning of the end of our involvement in Afghanistan will now also be upon us. 

Our appreciation of American service members in uniform is and has been at an all-time high.  When we see someone in uniform in the airport, we stop for a moment and show a sign of appreciation and a number of organizations. When we lose someone, we collectively pause and show our respect.

Once the operation ends and everyone comes home, what will our attitudes be?  As more former service people turn to the VA seeking assistance in transitioning to civilian life … as they need emotional and professional support, medical assistance … and they turn from the fresh young face in the uniform to the wizened face of experience, will we still show our gratitude? 

Ask yourself this question … and take Memorial Day weekend to think it over.  If the wars start to wind down and thousands return to their metaphoric plowshares, will we continue to support them?  More importantly, will we still remember the sacrifices they made and the ultimate sacrifice made by those who never came home? 

When I go to the flag-raising at the American Legion at the beginning of each month, I notice that most everyone who is there is tied to the Legion in a way … there are very few everyday people that come out.  So, is our patriotism a thing of the past?  A thing that shows itself when we are threatened … that allows us a moment to reflect positively on someone in uniform passing?  Or is it real enough to carry us through ... to make us show up when it is inconvenient and do something we might not really want to do and continue to honor those that have served and died? 

Do me a favor and take this Memorial Day and focus on the last ten years and the changes they have brought to your life.  Remember the atrocities of war; remember the sacrifices so many have made … while we here at home have remained safe.  Resolve to remember that feeling and carry it forward so that we as a people will never forget and never stray from the original tenets our country was founded on.  We live free as a people … because of those who have died to keep us free.  Remember and honor these people.  Then as Americans … enjoy the picnic twice as much because that is what these heroes would have wanted.