Memorial Day, a federal holiday in the United States, is observed on the last Monday in May. It commemorates U.S. men and women who died in military service. First enacted to honor Union soldiers of the American Civil War and known as Decoration Day, after World War I it was expanded to include casualties of any war or military action.
My words get caught in my throat. There is nothing I can say that will return the dead, and sadly, nothing that will prevent more from dying. If I could give comfort to mothers and fathers, wives and husbands, brothers and sisters who've lost someone to war, I would, but is that possible? I would not be comforted. Or would I take heart in knowing that my loved one would be remembered? That would not be enough for me, I know. My loved ones have been spared, but I feel the collective sorrow. When will it ever end?
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“True heroism is remarkably sober, very undramatic. It is not the urge to surpass all others at whatever cost, but the urge to serve others at whatever cost.” ~Arthur Ashe
My words get caught in my throat. There is nothing I can say that will return the dead, and sadly, nothing that will prevent more from dying. If I could give comfort to mothers and fathers, wives and husbands, brothers and sisters who've lost someone to war, I would, but is that possible? I would not be comforted. Or would I take heart in knowing that my loved one would be remembered? That would not be enough for me, I know. My loved ones have been spared, but I feel the collective sorrow. When will it ever end?
~~~~~
“True heroism is remarkably sober, very undramatic. It is not the urge to surpass all others at whatever cost, but the urge to serve others at whatever cost.” ~Arthur Ashe
Comments
A moving post Ruth and the quote above serves to emphasize this.
One thing I think is so amazing about the memorial is its designer, Maya Lin. She was only 21 years old when she did that, and still a student at Yale. Such sensitivity for an era she never even shared. Her design forces the visitor to look over the course of the war to find the name(s) they are looking for as they are listed chronologically, rather than (more conveniently) alphabetically. The loss is magnified and shared among those touching the wall.
My father, who served in WWII, says that until we quit memorializing the dead of wars, wars will continue. I'm not sure he is right, but I understand his sentiment.
They came from all over to see it. Young soldiers in uniform, old vets in their VFW caps, folks in civvies. My wife and I knew no one listed on the wall, but we walked past all those names from beginning to end, and were soon choked up and weeping like those around us.
The only sound I could hear was the wind blowing across the prairie.
The silence is thick and the emotion palpable and contagious whether you know a name on the wall or not. I think I must know someone among the 58,000 names, but I don't know for sure. Still . . . the names are someone's son or daughter and thats the point that nick us all in the heart.
Sarah~
I understand where your father is coming from. The nightly news showed the presentation of a flag to a couple whose son had died in combat. He's a hero, they were told. Damn it! They don't want a hero, whatever that means; they want their son. Alive.
LOL
Wanda
I've expected to find names I knew on the Wall, but found none.
You ask when it will end, and I wonder whether you mean the sorrow or the deaths of our service people? The sorrow fades, but never seems to end completely. As long as mothers have children, our leaders will have wars to send them to. Peace, it seems, is just the lull between wars.