Memorial Day

Yesterday was Memorial Day here in the good ole US of A. In keeping with my tradition of writing of special days the day after the day has been celebrated, I’m a day late. I do not come from a military family. My dad served in the Reserves during the Korean War, but was never actually deployed. As far as I know no other close relative of mine has served in the military. I’m sure there have been some through the years, but none that I was close to. So I don’t have as personal a feeling towards this day as many others do. People like Chet in Kansas, David, Alex and Angie in Texas, Adrian in California, Josh in Washington, Isaiah on a carrier, Mike in Abilene, Wade in Virginia, Chris and Bert in Colorado to name a few. They have personal memories of people that have served our countries and although I have not ever discussed battlefield death with them, I’m sure they know people that have died there. At the risk of offending my mother, that sucks. Obviously not in the physical “sucking on a straw” sense, but in the deeper sense that my teenage boys use the word. It sucks in the sad, not good, no real explanation for it, depressing sense of the word. The people that I know in the military chose this life. I know that at various times in our country’s history there were individuals that were drafted and had no choice in the matter and maybe one day we’ll cover that ground. But for today, the people serving in the military and many individuals in year’s past chose to serve our country in this way. They knew that injury and death were possible. They knew that once they signed that document committing themselves to our government their life possibilities included a few more options. They chose to sign that document anyway. Thank you to each and every one of you. And for those of you like me and probably really can’t grasp the enormity of that decision. Try something with me. It may be difficult for your brain to wrap around this, but try it anyway. I’m not one for grandiose visions of what the world might look like “if only”. For example, what if the Confederate States had won our Civil War, or what if the British had actually thrown everything at us in 1778 or in 1812? What if the French hadn’t sold us 3/4 of our country? What if the Japanese hierarchy had decided to leave us alone in 1941? What if we can’t split the atom? What if, what if, what if? But, what if? Think of the things that our country has developed and used over the years. Think of the creativity that this country has engendered since 1776. I’m not saying that other people in other countries wouldn’t have developed these things two days, two years or two decades later. Nor am I saying that immigrant populations in the US haven’t contributed immeasurably to our development. What I am saying is a lot of things happened here. We have a freedom to make mistakes and be creative that is rare. So look around your house and think of your daily life. If you use an Apple, HP or Dell computer, if you sleep on a Thomasville bed, wear Tommy Hilfiger, Nike, Converse or Under Armour, read Stephen King, James Patterson, William Faulkner or Ernest Hemingway, drive a Ford, Chevy, Buick or Hummer or went to a community college (a uniquely American invention) thank a veteran. And if you are one of the few people that I didn’t cover up there, but like living in a country that enables its citizens to dream, create and invent then thank a veteran. Whatever life we lead, we lead because others have been willing to protect the freedoms we have. So, to Chet, Alex, Angie, Adrian, Josh, Mike, Wade, Bert, Chris and Isaiah and every other veteran that reads this, thanks. And thanks on every day of the year, not just yesterday.