"A Memorial Day to Honor"
Posted: Mon May 25, 2015 3:09 pm
On Monday, 25 May 2015, we will once again commemorate and venerate our valorous American soldiers killed in those wars we fought for Freedom. And, once again, our great nation has sent our proud warriors to places foreign to fight for Freedom in harm's way. The "whys" and "Hows" we leave for the politicians and poets to debate the rights and wrongs of combat. It is the soldier who wears the dusty boots, walks where no man should have to walk, and carries upon his or her shoulder the heaviest burden of all. And they do it without a question voiced, without hesitation; our men and women go to war because it is their duty to honor their nation.
I cannot presume to know their resolve, their character, their spirit, their pain, their triumph, but neither did Stephen Crane when he wrote "Red Badge of Courage" know for real what it meant to hear the deafening cry of death, the mournful agony wrent in blood in a single moment unnoticed, unrecorded.
On this Memorial Day we clamor to hear the trumpet sound, the bugle blow, the drums beat in celebration and remembrance for the American soldiers' achievements made and, yet, unfinished. And it is right and good to honor them so grandly and proudly. It is our respect and, even, our reverence we give to these American soldiers. Yet, who hears the painful, muffled cry of the soldier upon the battlefield - no matter where that hellish field may have been and still may be - who feels his or her anguished torment and last words whispered in blood and sorrow, but those fellow soldiers nearby.
Still, I believe the most passionate plea, the most honored homage was not delivered by Abraham Lincoln at Gettysburg - however reverent and timeless it was and still is - but a speech given nearly one hundred years later by General Douglas MacArthur at West Point, where our future commanders of our valiant United States Army are taught to know and to do. MacArthur's farewell speech is long but, then, he had a lot to say about war and the dignity of the soldier. Since 1917 he had fought in three wars. He had known many soldiers and he knew their priceless cost, their undaunted will and worth. He knew their beating hearts, their fears, their hopes, their sacrifices, their enduring honor.
Upon this Memorial Monday, 25 May 2015, let us all salute in silent reverence and dedication for and to our American soldiers and their profound courage, true honor, and pray one day there will be peace, when the peacemakers will only be pages in the past to remember and to gauge upon our future the wisdom of the humble, strong, heroic soldier. Hoo-ah!
I cannot presume to know their resolve, their character, their spirit, their pain, their triumph, but neither did Stephen Crane when he wrote "Red Badge of Courage" know for real what it meant to hear the deafening cry of death, the mournful agony wrent in blood in a single moment unnoticed, unrecorded.
On this Memorial Day we clamor to hear the trumpet sound, the bugle blow, the drums beat in celebration and remembrance for the American soldiers' achievements made and, yet, unfinished. And it is right and good to honor them so grandly and proudly. It is our respect and, even, our reverence we give to these American soldiers. Yet, who hears the painful, muffled cry of the soldier upon the battlefield - no matter where that hellish field may have been and still may be - who feels his or her anguished torment and last words whispered in blood and sorrow, but those fellow soldiers nearby.
Still, I believe the most passionate plea, the most honored homage was not delivered by Abraham Lincoln at Gettysburg - however reverent and timeless it was and still is - but a speech given nearly one hundred years later by General Douglas MacArthur at West Point, where our future commanders of our valiant United States Army are taught to know and to do. MacArthur's farewell speech is long but, then, he had a lot to say about war and the dignity of the soldier. Since 1917 he had fought in three wars. He had known many soldiers and he knew their priceless cost, their undaunted will and worth. He knew their beating hearts, their fears, their hopes, their sacrifices, their enduring honor.
Upon this Memorial Monday, 25 May 2015, let us all salute in silent reverence and dedication for and to our American soldiers and their profound courage, true honor, and pray one day there will be peace, when the peacemakers will only be pages in the past to remember and to gauge upon our future the wisdom of the humble, strong, heroic soldier. Hoo-ah!