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We enjoy lovely videos of Memorial Day with graves draped in colorful American flags
as lovely music plays in the background.
We watch and listen to stirring Memorial Day parades,
flags snapping in the breeze and bands playing stirringly as they march in unison.
People in our country's neighborhoods will be having the biggest and best barbecues,
but the forgotten spirits of those slain upon a thousand distant foreign fields would take us to the cemeteries on Memorial Day.
Would they tell us that we could eat all the barbecue we want on the Fourth of July
and to just murmur a small thanks over their graves today?
No one sets out to be a hero, and certainly no one wants to die a bloody, violent death.
But thousands upon thousands found themselves in terrible situations where they needed a hero,
so that is what they became.
They died so that we would have a chance to live as best we could.
We couldn’t enjoy sun-drenched summer days like today without their sacrifice.
Living in the world today is a challenge unlike one that has ever been seen in the past.
But as thousands rose to the occasion when all seemed dark, we, too, can rise to tackle the obstacles facing us.
Yes, today is a day where we mourn the loss of precious lives and innocence.
But today is also a day where we celebrate the victory of the human spirit over darkness ...
and this gives us hope.
Bravo... to the men and women who fight for this country.
ReplyDeleteAnd have fought and paid the ultimate price. Have a healing day today, Jeremy. :-)
DeleteGod bless those we lost
ReplyDeleteHappy Memorial Day
And those grieving they left behind. :-(
DeleteSome of us remember the reason for this holiday, but many forget while they are planning their fun. It's a shame.
ReplyDeleteHappy Memorial Day, Roland!
Those who have read Philip K. Dick's THE MAN IN THE HIGH CASTLE (an alternate history of America when Germany and Japan won and divided America between them) would see what those who died in WWII spared us. A happy Memorial Day to you, too. :-)
DeleteFreedom isn't free and some gave it all.
ReplyDeleteYes, freedom is precious and the blood of many have made it so.
DeleteBeautiful, Roland. I'm proud of our country and those who have fought for it, but it's easy to lose sight of the true meaning of today.
ReplyDeleteYes, in the struggle to keep our noses above water and our emotions intact, it is easy to lose sight of how high a price our freedom cost. Thanks for RT my post on Twitter! :-)
DeleteI haven't lost the meaning of Memorial Day, and I know many other people who haven't. I'm somewhat offended by "Memorial Day Sales." This is not a day to go shopping.
ReplyDeleteLove,
Janie
Janie, greed knows no taste sad to say. :-( I knew you would keep the original meaning to the day. :-)
DeleteThank you. I'm honored.
DeleteThis was a very interesting read and appropriate I thought, for today. Thank you for your post today...http://www.snopes.com/military/memorialday.asp
ReplyDeleteLisa @ http://www.lisabuiecollard.com
Thanks, that meant a lot coming from you. :-)
DeleteAnd sometimes that hope is the best thing we can hold onto, save for our memories of those who have given their all and paid the price.
ReplyDeleteSometime hope can win the day just so long as we don't give up, right? :-) And memories of those we have loved and lost enrich our lives.
ReplyDeleteThank you for this, Roland. My Dad was a WWII vet and every Memorial Day weekend I go to Fort Logan veterans' cemetery to put flowers at his headstone. Every year too there is always a little flag at every one of the thousands of headstones there. It's very moving.
ReplyDeleteIn the crush of everyday life and in seeking to find relief in the excuse of any holiday, we often forget the reason behind those holidays ... and the terrible price so many paid for us to still be protected by the Constitution, imperfectly administered as it often is.
DeleteI take off my Stetson to your father and to those countless other soldiers who died in defense of our country.
I hope your day was healing in some way. :-)