There is a famous photograph that makes the rounds about this time every year. It depicts a Memorial Day parade making its way down Main Street, USA. As the national flag is approaching, one elderly man is standing at attention while the crowd around him, children and young adults, remain at ease; laughing, fooling around, blissfully ignorant of the significance of the moment.
The tag line says something like, ‘can you spot the veteran in the picture?’
The obvious inference is that only those who have served understand the sacrifice and respect for tradition while many of their fellow citizens simply consider Memorial Day another day off.
Memorial Day really should be a holiday by another name because the word holiday doesn’t do it justice.
This is the time to give thanks to our men and women, past and present who have devoted their lives to our security, and the many, all too many, who made the ultimate sacrifice on our behalf.
It is a time of mourning for the men and women we have lost, but it should be a celebration too, of what their sacrifice has created for us.
We at home can and should debate the merits of putting our soldiers in harm’s way in any given situation and we strongly believe that our forces should never be committed without the commitment and resources to ensure their blood will not be shed in vain.
We recommend watching the parades and firing up the barbecue this weekend. Take in a baseball game. Heck, play in a baseball game. Kick off your own summer season in whatever fashion you choose. It’s all your choice.
But please, take a moment to attend a Memorial Day activity this weekend. Pause for a moment. Find a veteran and thank them. For all of our problems, and they are significant, we are still citizens of the greatest country on Earth, where it is literally possible to start with nothing and create a legacy.
This year, this Memorial Day, take some time to savor life and appreciate what the sacrifice of others has wrought.
