I’ve
seen news reports about how this Memorial Day is going to be the most expensive
holiday ever. Travel expenses include gas (of course!), hotels, food, and
airfare. The complaints are rolling in as Americans weigh the cost against
their vacation or trip to the lake. Judging from the traffic, I believe many of
them chose travel.
Yes, we
are going through some tough economic times, but those of us who have a little
age on us have been there and done that many times before. To my way of
thinking, Memorial Day should be a reminder of the ultimate sacrifices that
others have made so that we are free to complain loudly and as often as we
please.
In
wartime, most Americans know who our enemy is. When my dad fought in World War
II, he knew who the enemy was. He didn’t have a single doubt.
We’ve
changed over the years. Now, we make enemies of those who disagree with us or
who are different. Where Americans used to unite, now we are divided—about
everything imaginable. We’ve forgotten that united we stand and divided we
fall.
I will
agree with one thing. This is an expensive holiday, but our sacrifices are
small compared to those who died for the freedom we take for granted. Even
worse than taking freedom for granted is being willing to throw it away to
further a radical agenda.
At a
gathering of Vietnam Veterans, one man said that he had died in Vietnam, but he
just didn’t know it. That is how I think of Jim. He was never the same when he
came home from Vietnam. He was haunted by his tour of duty and had physical
pain that served as a constant reminder. As with many veterans and active
military, he was often suicidal. I have no way to prove it, but I think his
exposure to Agent Orange and PTSD contributed directly to the dementia that
eventually claimed his life before his 60th birthday.
The
sacrifices of our veterans aren’t measured by statistics; they are measured by
grief. Individual sacrifices too often result in alcoholism, drug abuse, broken
homes, divorce, homelessness, and suicide. Widows and widowers stoically accept
a folded American flag at a gravesite.
Jim’s
final resting place is the Missouri Veterans Cemetery in Higginsville. The
cemetery is a lovely, peaceful place that belies the turbulence of war. The
flags flying above the cemetery and on the graves represent the country they
defended at risk of their own lives.
Memorial Day isn’t about picnics, vacations,
or drinking beer; it is about the freedom to have a picnic, take a vacation, or
sit on the patio with friends drinking beer. It’s about our right to breathe
fresh air, look at the stars, or hear an airplane without worrying about it
dropping a bomb on us. It’s about loving our family, honoring those we’ve lost,
and about the right to agree to disagree.
Copyright
© May 2022 by L.S. Fisher
http://earlyonset.blogspot.com
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