Memorial Day in the USA

I walked down to my home town's annual ceremony at our small Veteran's Memorial today. I was very pleased to see how much this has grown as a destination for those in our town. When it first started, there were perhaps 30 people crowded around the small memorial wall and flag in one of the most picturesque locations in the park. Today, there were, by my estimate, at least 200 people there, of all ages. Little people, teens, adults, and seniors. All came to pay tribute to those who gave their lives for this country.

We have, among other things, the right to freedoms in the United States of America that are unheard of, or mere whispers of dreams, in other parts of the world. We have the right to worship as we want -- whether following Catholicism, another form of Christianity, Islam, Judaism, or any one of hundreds of smaller religions including Athiesm (yes, it's a religion, so deal with it) without fear of government reprisal for our beliefs. I have the right to meander here and talk about all sorts of things. I can speak my mind. I can agree, or disagree, I can hold an opinion. I am ALLOWED to do that. And I can discuss, agree, or disagree with not only you, dear reader, but also with our government. I can walk down the street bare-headed with my face showing and not fear being stoned. Or my neighbors can wear full hijabs and, while they may risk the sidelong glances of those suspicious of their country of origin and in disagreement with the religious and social values that lead them to wear such garments, they, too, can generally do so without fear of violent reprisal.

Imagine living in a country where those things are not allowed. In China and Iran (for example), you can be jailed or executed for practicing the wrong religion. In Myanmar, to express disagreement with the government can lead to prison and trial, at the very best, as evidenced by the plight of Aung San Suu Kyi. And I can almost guarantee you that if I were to travel to the country of origin of my neighbors who go to the library in their full hijabs, I would likely be jailed myself for strolling around bareheaded in shorts and a t-shirt, as I do most summer days. Imagine that.

Memorial Day is not about praising war. It's about praising those who took up the fight so that we could have these freedoms, and did not come back from that fight. Whether we personally think there is ever a good reason to go to war is immaterial. Whether we think the current battles on-going in our world are justified is immaterial. Today, we honor those who have gone so that we can agree, disagree, pray or not, and lead our lives with dignity.

As I stood on the unusually chilly, gray day, I considered all of this. I remembered my father, who at 17 enlisted in the Navy and fought in the Second World War on the Pacific Front; and my uncle, who at 40 left his family to enlist in that same war on the European Front; and my mother's friend who went off to Korea and is still among the MIA; and my cousin, who could have avoided service entirely but instead left grad school to serve 2 tours in Viet Nam; and the young Marine I saw at the VA hospital a few months ago, who was recently back from Afghanistan, paralyzed from the neck down, and could not even speak, but whose smile said everything when I stopped to talk to him for a moment. As I stood there today, listening to Taps as played by the local high school's buglers, I thought of all this. And while I stood thinking, the sun came out, and lighted our Flag, the symbol of our freedoms, of our country, and of all those who have come before and who will come after, to fight for these things, to fight for all of us.

Thank you. All of you.