What Do You Remember?

So this weekend we celebrate Memorial Day. My parents called it Decoration Day and planted flowers on graves of famiy members. And my dad marched in a parade with the American Legion color guard. I didn't really know much about why any of that happened.

Bing defines Memorial Day as: 

 "A day on which those who died in active military service are remembered, traditionally observed on May 30 but now officially observed on the last Monday in May. Also called (especially formerly) Decoration Day." 

1. These days most people think of Memorial Day as a day off from work, a long weekend, a time for cook-outs, the end of the school year, etc. But do we really honor the brave warriors who gave their lives in the line of duty? I'll bet there are many people who don't think of them at all. When was the last time you attended a Memorial Day Parade?
2. 
   Even though we have been in countless wars and "conflicts", today's Americans have had very little personal sacrifice. Unless you have had a loved one die in the military, we don't even sacrifce as private citizens.
   
3. 
   In the World Wars, Americans felt the cost of war at home. There were conscripted fighters leaving families to fight in battles around the world. There were men who enlisted because they believed in the need to protect their homeland from enemies we could identify.There were so many men gone that women were trained to do men's jobs in manufacturing war machines. Products and resources were rationed. The nation was at war and everyone was touched by it.
4. 
   Since then, by the way the country functions at home, one could hardly tell we are at war, and have been for years. We have been fighting in the Middle East so long that it has become normal. And much of the time we don't even know why we are fighting. 
5. Enlistments are down and fighters now serve multiple times, experiencing such trauma that they are not the same when they come home. PTSD is common and destroys lives and relationships. 
6. 
   If you ask most people why we have military personnel on active duty in places like Afghanistan, Irac, North Africa, Syria, etc., the explanation seldom seems worth the lives of our men and women at risk.
7. 
   None of the wars today make much sense to me. What are we fighting for? Oil? We can be indepent of foreign oil. To destroy terrorists? That doesn't seem to be working that well. 
8. There must be better solutions, better ways to get along with other nations.
9. 
   It seems to me that the best way to honor those who have died in active military service is to spend more time making peace than making war. I know that seems too simplistic. But think about how much war costs us in lives, in money. What if we all worked for peace -  at home and around the world. 
10. 
    That would make the world a better place.
    
11. 
    
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