Memorial Day 2007
Flags hang limp in the summer heat, as a few come out to meet the parade of old men marching down Main Street. I didn’t think much of these men when I was a boy; just old guys my dad drank with. Most of them were nice guys and the only time I associated them with war was on Memorial Day, when they got into their uniforms and marched in the parade. What I have come to learn these many years later is that these men are hero’s, they’d offered their lives for their country. Not everyone I know has done that.
Only after putting my own life on the line in Vietnam did I understand what this means. It’s rather simple, you either do it or you don’t. If you have done it, that should mean something to those who did not. Honor is what it should mean, a word that seems not to fit well in our vocabulary anymore. We would all do well to revisit this word.
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My husband and I are reflecting on the meaning of Memorial Day, thanks to you, Larry, and your book, and the way it has opened my eyes to the dearth of honor in this country. I ask myself, "What do I do to honor our veterans?" I am ashamed to admit that in the past Memorial Day was just another federal holiday. So we decided on prayer, mindfulness of the plight of our current and past soldiers, hoping that honoring them in even a few moments has an impact. If we all do a little, things will change. The call to action can be answered in an instant.
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