Happy Memorial Day to Our Heroes

Today, I want to take time out to simply thank those who’ve made Memorial Day possible. To the Veterans, including my father who served in Vietnam and special kudos to those whose graves adorn Western Europe, I sincerely thank you for your service and sacrifice.

You have brought freedom and the benisons of Democracy to many across this globe… representing and serving a country which, if and when she falls, God forbid, her enemies will weep, if not out in the open in secret.

This is so because the country you’ve so bravely represented has been rather lenient and noble with its hegemony. Notwithstanding some of the modern day ungratefulness in vogue today… in the many who’ve quickly and conveniently forgotten when Hitler’s Nazis were goose-stepping across Europe and the sacrifices you paid on the beaches of Normandy… where over forty thousands of you made the ultimate sacrifice.

The bond among soldiers is difficult to fathom to wives, parents, and generally those who did not serve.  It transcends race, religion, and all the “isms” which keep us apart in civilian life.

During the first Iraqi war, I was placed on standby down at Fort Ord in California - I remembered how somber it was when we were signing insurance documents… designating our respective beneficiaries, if we were to fall in battle. But there was one other aspect that was even more sobering for me: contemplating being a casualty of chemical weapons.

I recalled telling my buddy, Scot Nelson, that if I were hit with chemical weapons and survived, and he had been lucky to have donned his chemical gear, that he should put me out of my misery because I couldn’t take my own life due to my religious beliefs. Scot didn’t verbally reply, but I saw it in his eyes that if that eventuality presented itself, that he would have mercifully euthanized me.

In closing, I also ask forgiveness of you Memorial Day heroes for those us who’ve callously allocated the status of “hero” or “shero” to the like of athletes and even more grating, actors.

We have equated throwing a ball in a hoop or knocking it over a barrier to that of your dying for the potential of Democracy… martyring yourselves by falling on grenades… for your standing in the gap for children threatened by their own people, sacrificing your food, water, and lives.  

Happy Memorial Day… honored living and dead.