What Memorial Day Is All About

I have many fond memories of past Memorial Days…marching in parades as a Cub Scout and Boy Scout, playing in my high school band at memorial services…memories of aging veterans solemnly paying homage to their fallen comrades. It gives me great comfort to know that the tradition of paying homage to our war dead has not been forgotten.

The first Memorial Day was observed more than 80 years before the Air Force. It was never intended as a celebration of the glory of war, but to remind us to honor those who made the supreme sacrifice—to acknowledge a debt that can never be repaid.

Some don't understand what sacrifice and remembrance is all about.

Some mistakenly believe that observing Memorial Day somehow glorifies war and violence. Others cloak themselves in the flag while they would deny others some of the basic freedoms Americans have fought and died for—including the right to ignore the importance of this day. Some would use this day to glorify war itself.

Credit: Charity Stubb

War is a horrible thing. Most of us know the quote attributed to General Sherman: "War is Hell." General Curtis LeMay, considered by many to be the father of the modern Air Force once stated, "All war is immoral."

Why, then, do we observe this day with parades, speeches, picnics, and flag waving? The answer is as complex and seemingly contradictory as the lives and deaths of our veterans.

They loved their country and their homes, so they left them to spend years away from home.
They loved freedom, so they sacrificed theirs to preserve ours.
They loved life, yet they bravely laid theirs on the line to protect the lives of others.

I doubt that many of our casualties of war chose to die—no sane person chooses to die when there is another way. Few, I'll bet, thought that war was a truly glorious thing. But to ensure that war would not directly touch every living being, some sacrificed their lives.

Americans are willing to fight and die because they believe that war is sometimes necessary, not that it is good. Our soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines fight and die for the price of freedom, not for the glory of war. John Stuart Mill once stated, "War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks nothing is worth war is much worse. A man who has nothing for which he is willing to fight; nothing he cares more about than his own personal safety; is a miserable creature who has no chance of being free…."

The Americans who gave their life blood for our freedom were male and female, white, black, Hispanic, Indian, Asian, Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, and scores of other variations and combinations….but Americans all. Our task is not so much to validate their cause as it is to acknowledge their sacrifice—to remember that they made it. We may or may not believe that Vietnam was a worthy cause, but Americans fought and died there because somebody thought so! We may or may not believe that we should be in the gulf or in Bosnia, but nearly 300 Americans lost their lives in the Gulf War and thousands more are at risk every day in these two theaters.

The Air Force core value of "Service Before Self" merely formalizes what American military men and women have observed since the birth of our nation. Memorial Day likewise formalizes our recognition of their sacrifices, and the sacrifices of those left behind. At the time it was established, this nation had experienced a tragedy more horrible than most of us can imagine. Today, the population of the United States is eight times what it was at the beginning of the Civil War. The 500,000-700,000 dead from the war would today equate to between 4 and 5.5 million people, in terms of percentage of population. Many hundreds of thousands more were maimed, losing limbs, sanity, or both. No family or community in the country was untouched by the war.

Credit: Museums Victoria via Unsplash

The purpose of the first formal observance of Memorial Day included the "hope it will be kept up from year to year, while a survivor of the war remains to honor the memory of his departed comrades." By the time the last known Civil War veteran died in 1959 at the age of 117, hundreds of thousands of additional Americans had laid down their lives in Cuba, the Philippines, Europe, Hawaii, China, India, scores of Pacific Islands, and Korea. Nearly 60,000 more died in Vietnam. It is therefore most fitting that we honor ALL of our war dead with this holiday. We should also remember those who were left behind—the wives and husbands, children and parents, brothers and sisters who continue to suffer every day.

By preserving the memories of their loved ones, we honor the survivors, also.