http://www.snopes.com/military/memorialday.asp
I know most if not all of you are patriotic. On this day we as a nation formally recognize the veterans, men, and women, that made the ultimate sacrifice for their nation.
Personally, I remember those whom I have known that made that sacrifice.
It seems that every generation, that this nation is involved in a conflict that calls upon the human wealth of this nation to risk life and limb to resolve it. Diplomatic and political failures cause such events. Without regard to personal safety, these young men and women obediently assume the task of protecting the values and property in the wake of world leaders to rationally resolve issues. They don't ask for thanks, they are forbidden to have a political opinion. They just serve and do their duty professionally and responsibly.
I, myself had sacrificed my prime, my younger years in such efforts. Although personally completely opposed to where I and why I was sent to do some of these tasks, I never wavered or hesitated to do what I was ordered to do. This is the resolve of such people. And it will always be so. So long as there is a Constitution, so long as we are a free nation, there will always be those ready to stand between you and the danger that threatens you.
Now that I am technically a civilian, I can fully appreciate that sacrifice. For these people don't just die. Some are maimed, crippled, and scarred for life. Those scars are physical and mental. All give their youth, and their prime years. They put their personal lives on hold to serve this nation.
Now some would say it is just a job, and they'd be partially correct. But this jobs is 24/7 and there is no reward for just accomplishing "the mission."
It is always hard to describe what you were asked to do and in many cases strictly forbidden.
So as all of you go about your lives today celebrating the holiday in the way you see fit, just remember that you have that right because many men and women decided that they would forfeit much of their lives and in some cases all of it, to afford you the right to do so.
You may say "thank you for your service". And that is very hard to respond to. I can only say " You're welcome, it was/is a privilege."
Thank You, all of you, we are all Americans.
Myke
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In the most respectful sense I doubt the dead are listening so to thank them is but a selfish motive from any well-wisher, not so different as giving a gift is, so I don't observe the day for the dead but rather celebrate surviving comrades who bore witness to their deaths. Those are memories they did not deserve to be condemned to repeatedly relive. Any empathy I have for them I doubt would be even remotely helpful. Then there are the POW/MIA personnel who remain unresolved, and uncelebrated in even the most secular sense, and with each passing day closer to being forgotten.
But, again, I don't celebrate the dead, nor thank them for dying for a purpose I certainly didn't ask them to do, nor deserve. When god and country unite, people die. I'm a vet, a volunteer, but my subscription has now lapsed and with it went any allegiance to the military industrial complex, which stands imposter to my nation, under god, indivisible, with the liberty to target us all.
Religion is to one man as the military is to another. Same organization, same methods, same goals, different uniforms.
For the most part Pitar, I agree. The military has been misused and abused and people have needlessly died for that end. On this day I reflect and remember those that have passed. Mostly I remember how they passed. IED random shot, storming into a booby-trapped house. They were all senseless. I share the thought that the military is sort of a religion if one lets it be so. You cannot deny the kinship of those who serve together. The experiences that they engage in together. Unless one has done it, it cannot be fully understood.
My neighbor is a cop and he thinks that this day is for him as well. I didn't say anything. Although the sacrifice is similar they are different. He thanked me for my service and expected me do the same for him but I just couldn't do it.
I don't celebrate the dead, nor do I glorify the combat or any war, police action or armed conflict. I remember those that have served, an altogether different thing as you well know.
My service was long, a career. I have the perspective from a lowly private all the way to an E-7 and now as a civilian. So I might see things very different than you. I wasn't in Nam, almost but just a tad too young to have entered that conflict. I remember the older boys forced to go fight a war that they didn't understand or agree with. I remember my Stepdad who had fought in Korea. I was not even born when he fought, but I saw the scars of that war in him. The "ForgottenWar". The most dismissed overlooked veterans in US history. The Nam Vets have a whole different chapter. MIAs, POWs never ever found or recovered, and the scars of fighting a war with one hand tied behind their backs. All the combat situations I was in, were such that we had an overwhelming advantage and yet still had losses. I have been alongside people that exceed the number of tours anyone should ever go through.
These are the things that I reflect on.
All troops fight for their countries and for their favorite causes. In the old days they used to get loot and women as their reward. Now they don't get anything of value. In all the wars in American history only a couple of them have really been fought for American freedom. All of the other ones have been fought to make politicians and bankers rich.
We commemorate our war dead on ANZAC Day (April 25). ANZAC stands for Australia and New Zealand Army Corp., which was formed as part of an allied assault force that attempted a disastrous amphibious landing at Gallipoli in Turkey in 1914. The death toll was horrendous, especially for two new nations with very small populations.
We can criticize wars and the politicians and profiteers that cause them, but the men and women who go to fight on our behalf should always get our respect. All too often they get neglect instead of respect.