Memorial day is a time to remember those who paid the ultimate sacrifice while defending our country. Those of us who served in combat are reminded of friends who served with us who did not make it back home. It is good that we do this, and this is one time when, briefly, partisan politics, are put on the back burner.
But there is another element to this story, expressed most eloquently by Abraham Lincoln during the Gettysburg Address. Here is what he said:
“But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate—we can not consecrate—we can not hallow—this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion—that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”
Lincoln said it best, the only authentic way to honor those who have made the ultimate sacrifice in defending this country is to make sure they did not die in vain. That can only be achieved by doing whatever is necessary to preserve the freedom for which they paid such a high price. There is no substitute for victory.
As a Vietnam combat veteran, each memorial day I am reminded that after Richard Nixon was driven out of office, congress decided, after careful reflection, that the war they started and the war that sent so many of us into armed conflict wasn’t worth it. So, they not only just quit, but they also prevented President Ford from providing any assistance to our former allies in Vietnam. They handcuffed him so that he was powerless to prevent the predicable defeat of South Vietnam and in doing so cast the sacrifices made by those who fought and specially those who died there on the scrap heap of history. Not only did they do that, but they fostered an environment where those of us who fought there not only were never welcomed home, but we were also not even thanked for our service. We were instead mischaracterized as losers, who lost a war that didn’t matter. When I first arrived home, at LAX, after three tours of duty in Southeast Asia, I was greeted by some hippy looking folks who spit on me and called me a war criminal.
If we really want to honor those who fought and specifically those who died, we must demand that our leaders in Washington, D.C. are totally committed to the principles for which so many people have fought and died. We must demand that our youth are never again sent into battle without a full commitment to victory. Most of all we must demand that our elected official have the character necessary to make the difficult but necessary decisions to preserve “freedom and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”
Putting up flags and having brief moments of silence is nice, but it is no substitute for the real meaning of Memorial Day.
TDM