Memorial Day - The dictionary in Mac OS X defines a memorial as “something, esp. a structure, established to remind people of a person or event.” Memorial Day is obviously more than just a structure. It’s rarefied privilege to have an entire day set aside for something. Too often holidays in the United States become sort of meaningless; looked forward to more for the government-sanctioned day away from work (and endless opportunities for retail sales!) than for the stated focus of the day.

That’s really too bad for Memorial Day. Probably not since WWII has our country been so militarized and military-focused, yet how many people really pause to reflect on the real reason we take this day off work?

I have not personally known anyone who’s died in combat serving our country. At least not that I know of. I suppose it’s possible that some of the guys I knew in the Marines could have died in Iraq or Afghanistan, but it’s unlikely, since most of them would have been “in the rear with the gear” as we used to say.

I know that my grandfather obviously knew people who died in combat, since he himself saw action in Korea. We never talked very much about his experiences there, and I regret that now. By the time I’d made my decision to join the Marines, we’d already grown pretty far apart, only really talking when I’d bring my high school girlfriend (a trumpet player) out to play taps for the funerals of members of his AMVETS unit. I suppose part of me didn’t want to think about that stuff — the possibility that I could not only be sent off to war, but also potentially not come back. It’s not exactly something that the recruiters try to emphasize, even occasionally going so far as to turn off movies like “Full Metal Jacket” before the whole platoon gets shipped off to Vietnam.

That’s why holidays like Memorial Day and Veterans Day are so important. War is a horrific, terrifying thing that destroys people’s bodies and minds and occasionally takes their life; the only thing that we ever truly own. War is not something to be taken or treated lightly, and a free nation with an all-volunteer military needs to pause and remember that when the politicians in Washington send “the 13th MEU aboard the USS Iwo Jima” off to some faraway place, that those are individual people; men and women who’ve CHOSEN to go and do the things that the rest of us would rather not think about. Not because we don’t care, but because we’re too wrapped up in the minutiae of our daily lives to step back and think about the things that are bigger than us.

I know this post is going up late in the day and that many of you won’t read it until Tuesday morning, but that doesn’t matter. Remembering those that serve and who have paid the highest price is too important to only do once a year. Even if you did it yesterday, try to make a little time today to pause and think about the ones we’ve lost. Think about their families. Think about the hopes and dreams that died with them. I believe that the young people who volunteer to serve their country are the finest product of our nation. Every one of them is precious, and losing one means that we’ve all lost a little bit of what makes this country great.

Take a minute or two, find a quiet place, and pause to give thanks and be grateful for what they’ve done for each of us. We all share the burden of the price they’ve paid, we owe it to them to demonstrate our gratitude.

Tags: america, holidays, memorial day, united states

Related Posts on West and Clear

• December 13, 2007 -- West and Clear Podcast - “Holiday Party”