Uncategorized

Hail the victorious dead!

4 Comments

Another Memorial Day is here, and as I sip my coffee my thoughts turn to the day itself.

Much like a funeral, Memorial Day is actually less about the dead than it is about those left behind.

The dead are beyond care anymore. They are at peace, and have little, if any, thought for those who are to follow — and yes, we will all follow sooner or later.

So, why is Memorial Day important? As Calvin Coolidge once said, “The nation which forgets its defenders will be itself forgotten.”

We must remember our dead warriors not for them, but for us. To continue being who we are as a country requires that we remember those who gave their lives in the service of our country.

Go and picnic. Hug your children. Stuff yourselves on burgers and bratwurst. Listen and revel in the laughter and gaiety that other died to protect.

Above all else, enjoy the freedoms that others have paid the ultimate price for.

And sometime during this day, take a moment to think of the fallen. To quietly thank them.

Not for them, understand, but for you — so that you remember that everything has a price.

LawDog

Why, you arrogant little ...
Because we're here, lad

4 thoughts on “Hail the victorious dead!”

  1. For us it is 25th of April ANZAC Day.
    A day that says much about who we are as a nation, what we consider worth sacrificing for, and what we are willing to fight to prevent.

    ….. if we remember.

    They did not guarantee our freedom, nor our safety. But they gave us the chance. If we are willing to pay the price to preserve it.

    Lest we forget.
    Lest we forget.

  2. Indeed, Hail the Victorious Dead… because a country that tries to forget it’s past, won’t have much of a future… at 71, I can’t wrap my head around the young fools with no appreciation of what history means, it’s importance to us as a people. I’ve felt that way since my teens, it just feels normal to be so…. ah, well…

  4. I spent the day ‘visiting’ my (local) honored dead – my late husband (USMC and KS Hiway Patrol), my mom and dad (USA, USAF). Later this summer I’ll make my way to Fort Riley for my father in law (USA) and then in the fall when it’s time to tend to peony plants, out to the country graves of all my mom’s extended family.

    There are only three of my generation still alive on that side of the family and the last couple of years, it looks like my sister and I are the only one still ‘grave tending’. I’ve made a list for my son, but will not be angry if he chooses not to take on the task. He never knew any of these people, after all. But as long as I am able, I will continue.

    There are a scattering of military headstones dating back to the civil war among them. (The older ones are ‘back east’.) And I always pause to give them an extra ‘thank you’.

Comments are closed.