Honestly, who can blame anyone for engaging in this seemingly callous behavior? Due to its placement on the calendar, the Memorial Day Weekend, in tandem with Labor Day Weekend, serves as an ideal bookend for the summer season. Moreover, three-day weekends do not come along often, particularly during periods when Mother Nature usually delivers agreeable weather. We should exploit the rare opportunity to deviate from the monotonous routine that the work schedule imposes on us to relax and enjoy the wonderful gift of life.
Nevertheless, our misappropriation of Memorial Day betrays a disconcerting reality; namely, our nation’s growing distance from the harsh realities of war. According to a New York Times piece, “at any given time in the past decade, less than 1 percent of the American population has been on active military duty, compared with 9 percent of Americans who were in uniform in World War II.”[1] This fact would be most welcome if it corresponded with a similar decline in the number of military commitments in which America is engaged. Unfortunately, September 11th subverted any opportunity for an extended period of peace; the devastating attacks of that day engendered a declaration of war against terrorism, a conflict in Afghanistan, and a misadventure in Iraq. Our troops have been as active as ever, yet there are fewer of them available to answer Uncle Sam’s call. Therefore, our government has resorted to multiple deployments in the last decade to meet the troop deficit; in effect, we have asked the one percent continually to put their lives on the line while demanding nothing of the rest of the country, which has been too distracted by the goings-on at the Kardashian home or the melodrama amongst the Real Housewives of (fill in the blank) to comprehend the depth of the sacrifice we have demanded of our soldiers.
Although a true observation of the day would afford us the chance to appreciate war’s disastrous ramifications, the prevailing treatment of Memorial Day squanders this possibility. Now, I am not asking everyone to abandon their vacation plans or to cancel the barbecue. Such requests would be unreasonable. Yet it is not unreasonable to suggest that perhaps we all devote a few minutes of our holiday to consider the carnage that war inflicts on the human body and the toll it takes on the human soul. Read a soldier’s account of his combat experiences. Even better, listen to the mother’s or brother’s recollections of his/her time in the field. But don’t just listen- really listen. And understand. Understand the fear, the chaos, the confusion, and the barbarism that define the battlefield experience for so many veterans. Understand that numerous Marines fighting the Japanese in the Pacific Theater would remove body parts from their vanquished foes and keep them as souvenirs. Understand that many soldiers deployed to Vietnam had to constantly decide whether a Vietnamese civilian was truly a noncombatant and not a Viet Cong guerilla fighter, with the wrong decision leading to their demise or to the death of an innocent person. Understand that the soldiers we have deployed (and redeployed) to Iraq and Afghanistan have returned with an alarmingly high rate of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Understand the consequences of war.
On the occasion of this Memorial Day, I will remember the lives that were lost and the lives that were indelibly altered in the course of our nation’s numerous military engagements. I will reminisce about my grandfather, who hid the ugly nature of his military experiences behind a wall of funny war stories, only to have the horrors seep out in the quiet darkness of night. Furthermore, I will recall the sad fate of my uncle, who left for Vietnam and whose soul got lost in the country’s dense and disorienting jungles.
Finally, I will reflect on the words of Vietnam veteran and author Tim O’Brien: “Now, war ended, all I am left with are simple, unprofound scraps of truths […] Can the foot soldier teach anything important about war, merely for having been there? I think not. He can tell war stories.”[2] Perhaps you cannot teach us anything, Mr. O’Brien. But if we are wise, we will listen anyway. And perhaps we will be more discerning when deciding whether to send our young men and women into combat.
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