Honor and Sentiment

  With Memorial Day just two days away my thoughts naturally turn to that. I'm old enough to remember when people were calling it Decoration Day. In 1971 Decoration Day officially became Memorial Day. It is a day to remember those that fell in battle. It was first officially observed in 1868 on May 30th. The date was chosen because there had been no battle fought during the civil war on that particular day. Later on, for convenience's sake, it was moved to the last Monday in May. The poppies first appeared in 1918. The poem in Flanders Field played a big role in that. Yesterday, May 24, (the Friday before Memorial Day) was National Poppy Day. The majority of us will wear our poppies on Memorial Day while attending the parades or other festivities. 

 As we all know WW2 followed WW1, then came Korea and Vietnam. 94,725 American lives were lost in those two wars. Since 2001 more than 7000 lives have been lost in the "war" on terror. It is a war without defined boundaries, combatants or goals. The way those veterans remember those wars and the way we celebrate them have changed over the years. In the beginning, Decoration Day, it was customary to go to the cemetery and decorate their graves. Speeches were made and stories told. Picnic lunches were taken along, and it was quite a day. A day dedicated in their memory. That evolved into holding grand parades followed by ceremonies and speech making. That continues to this day with the placing of Flags on their graves serving as the "decoration." 

 The remembrances and celebrations have changed in tone as well. In years long past now, we celebrated the victories those veterans obtained by the loss of their lives. It wasn't called a sacrifice back then; it was a duty. That is what I heard growing up from the mouths of those veterans that had survived the war. To have served with honor, fulfilling your obligation to the country, was the highest praise you could receive. I heard very few tales of hardship, or how the war was unfair, or somehow not their problem. No, the stories I heard were of fighting the fight! We didn't win in Korea or Vietnam, and we aren't winning now. The reasons for that, I leave for you to ponder upon. Today I hear more about sacrifice, about how wrong everything is and how everyone is a hero. A far cry from the 1960's attitudes. I try to remind myself that was sixty years ago! 

 I tell myself that the importance lies in remembering them, not in the manner in which we do so. It is different today. Americans have always been somewhat removed from the realities of war. The civil war was the great exception to that. During that war, brother fought brother, and it was on their doorstep! It was quite real. In the following wars our troops went "over there", and we mourned their loss when they didn't return. We didn't see any of the destruction firsthand, just in pictures and movie reels. Those returning spoke little of the fight, most shared that experience only with their fellow veterans in smoke filled Legion Halls or VFW's across the nation. Almost like a secret club, much wasn't spoken about outside of those walls. That changed dramatically with Vietnam. Draft dodgers, conscientious objectors and those that simply refused to serve were on the news, receiving support from all corners. All of those types had existed before, in every previous war, but never had they received general support. 

 The sense of "duty" had been abandoned in favor of sacrifice. A sacrifice is a personal thing, an individual choice and carries no sense of duty. Duty is that sense of obligation to another, a cause, or a country. No longer is serving in the military a duty, it is now a sacrifice. That grates upon my sensibilities as it is in contradiction to the way I was raised. I was taught that you didn't have to volunteer, but you had to go when called! That was your duty, your obligation, your responsibility as an American. It isn't about me; it is about the nation! 

 Today I will put up my bunting on my porch railing. Old glory will be flying high, except between dawn and noon on Memorial Day when it will be paced at half-staff. I'll go to the cemetery and place a few flags on the veterans I know there. I'll try to remember to leave a penny, as that is apparently becoming a new custom, at least to me it is. No one there that I went to school with, served with, or worked with. I wasn't with any of them when they were killed. I think it is a nice gesture anyway. It is a practice begun in America following the Vietnam war. It shows that someone has visited that grave, that they remember. A display of sentiment. Serving with honor. An obligation fulfilled.