Monday Morning Musings - Memorial Day

Here in the U.S. we are celebrating Memorial Day, a day that we honor those who died in service to our country.

I thought it would be nice to meet veterans who are remembering their comrades who died in battle. We are quickly approaching the time when there will be no more WWII veterans, so I wanted to link to this story by Wes Venteicher in the Chicago Tribune about Bill Howland. He was a medic, even though he had no previous medical experience, which was common back then. He said he sometimes talks with local high school students during history units on World War II and 1940s Europe.

"I try to prevail upon them to implore our government to stay out of wars … we have more important things to do than shoot people up all over the world," he said.

When I read that quote, I couldn't help but think of this wonderful song by Pete Seeger. It's one of my favorites, and we sang it a lot at hootenannies in the late 60s.
 


Here is another interesting article from Samantha Grossman in Time Magazine, where she shares seven things we might not know about Memorial Day.

And with that I am signing off for the day. I hurt my back yesterday, so my computer time is limited.

Remembering Those Who Served

Today, we in the United States pause to remember those soldiers who died in service to their country. Someone recently asked me if I had ever served in the military. We were talking about the legacy of military service in our families, and she was one of those who did serve.

I have not, and I can't imagine what it would be like to be in combat. Most of the people I know who have served don't want to talk about their experiences.

Those are the ones who survived.

There are too many who have not. And too many families who grieve.

Yesterday at church a woman prayed for her son and four of his comrades who were all killed at the same time in Afghanistan several years ago. Her pain was so real it brought tears to my eyes. Then a fragment of a song by Peter, Paul and Mary came to mind:

                          Where have all the soldiers gone, long time passing?
                          Where have all the soldiers gone, long time ago?
                          Where have all the soldiers gone?
                          Gone to graveyards, everyone.
                          Oh, when will they ever learn?
                          Oh, when will they ever learn?

Lyrics | Peter, Paul & Mary lyrics - Where Have All The Flowers Gone lyrics

When will we ever learn?

Friday's Odds and Ends

Shame on President Obama for doing the photo op at the Vietnam War Memorial on Memorial Day and double shame on him if it was his idea. I'm hoping it wasn't. Even though I don't always agree with him, I saw him as a man with more sensibilities and compassion. But maybe that was before he got caught up in the political system and started listening to political advisers.

In addition to all the veterans and families of veterans who came to Washington that weekend to visit the Wall, about 140,000 members of the organization, Rolling Thunder, had ridden motorcycles from across the country to meet up and honor the fallen who are memorialized. It was the official Rolling Thunder XXV "Ride for Freedom", and one of my friends had made the trip from Omaha, NE. To say he was disappointed is an understatement.

Since the beginning of recorded history there have been incidents of genocide that are so horrible one can hardly get his or her mind around it. Ben Kiernan, a Yale scholar, has labelled the destruction of Carthage at the end of the Third Punic War (149–146 BC) "The First Genocide", and more recent history includes the 1890 massacre of Sioux Indians at Wounded Knee by the United States military, the killing of millions during the Holocaust and the ongoing genocide in the countries of Africa.

In this day of enlightenment, one would hope we could get past these barbaric acts, but it appears we never will. The genocide continues across Africa and now there has been more mass killings in Syria that some consider genocide.

Every time I read about the horrors we inflict on each other, I wonder why. I found one answer when I was researching one of my nonfiction books on bigotry and found this book by Adam Jones, Genocide: A Comprehensive Introduction. In it he states that people throughout history have always had the ability to see other groups as alien. "People have always had a name for themselves. In a great many cases, that name meant 'the people' to set the owners of that name off against all other people who were considered of lesser quality. If the differences between the people and some other society were particularly large in terms of religion, language, manners, or  customs, then those others were seen as less than fully human. If they are considered less than human, then they could be a threat and should be eliminated"

That thinking has created the Them or Us mentality that fuels bigotry and the atrocious acts that come out of bigotry. Do you think we will ever grow out of this?

On a much more pleasant note,I read an article in The Dallas Morning News about a teen in Arlington who spearheaded a wonderful act of kindness following the tornado that tore through the town in April. Kate Atwood and her mother drove around after the storm and noted how many people were digging through wreckage to try to find pictures and mementos that may have survived the devastation. Kate got the idea of trying to help, and she enlisted the aid of librarians at Lake Arlington Branch Library. About 40 people have joined the effort to bring pictures and other items to the library where residents can come and claim them. According to the news article, about three-quarters of the items have been claimed.

Kudos to Kate and all the others who are helping to bring these treasured pictures and mementos home.

Remembering on Memorial Day

I come from a long line of military men on my father's side. In a little cemetery in Fairmont, West Virginia there are headstones for a number of Van Gilder men who served in the U.S. military, going back to the Revolutionary War. I had the opportunity to go that cemetery a few years ago for a family reunion and I was amazed to see so many military men noted.

I had not known that there was a member of our family serving in every war and conflict throughout the history of our country. I felt both awed and thrilled to be in such company.

It was also interesting to note that not one of those men died in combat. They all served their time in the military and were able to come home. It was the same for my brother in the Viet Nam era and my son in Desert Storm. But other families have not been so lucky.

So it is those families that I think about today with special care. They have sacrificed much to protect our country and the freedoms we espouse.

Thank you.....

What about you? What does the holiday mean to you?

Honoring Those Who Served

This Veteran's Day I want to take a moment to say thanks to the members of my family who have served in the military.

In my immediate family I have a daughter who was in the Army and a son who was in the Marines. They spent many years debating which branch was the best, and still have a friendly rivalry. Dany did not serve during an active war, but David served during Desert Storm.

My husband was in the Air Force, and, like Dany, he was lucky enough to miss conflict.

My brother served in the army in Vietnam. It was the worst two years of his life.

Going further back I am proud to say that every generation of my father's family had men serving in the military back to the Revolutionary War. It was humbling and awe-inspiring to see all the headstones in the small graveyard in West Virginia a few years ago.

While serving in the military is something that I support and honor on a patriotic level I also agree with what Andy Rooney said last Sunday on 60 minutes. He wondered why we don't have a day that honors not going to war.

He said, "Too many young men and women with a whole life ahead of them are getting killed before they have a chance to live it and for what?

Of all the things that men do - historically mostly men - fighting a war to kill other men is the most uncivilized."

Memorial Day

In a little cemetery in Fairmont, West Virginia there are headstones for a number of Van Gilder men who served in the U.S. military, going back to the Revolutionary War. I had the opportunity to go that cemetery two years ago for a reunion -- my father's family - and I was amazed to see so many military men noted. I felt both awed and thrilled to be in such company.

While I may not hold with killing and really wish there was some other way to handle global conflicts than war, there is something noble and stirring about the men and women who have sacrificed their lives for our freedom.

So I take this time to thank them for their service and remember all the military men and women in our family, both living and dead.

Thank you.....