Memorial Day has always been one of my favorite holidays. Not because it’s a three-day weekend that typically marks the beginning of summer. But because it’s a holiday that encourages remembering and reflection.
Some of those memories are pleasant. Among my favorites are sharing (to the degree a six-year-old can) Memorial Day preparations with my Dad. There was so much to do and it started well before the day itself. Grandfather’s grave site always needed tending… his flag holder needed painting and there were geraniums to plant. When all was ready, Dad would stand at the foot of the grave in his Navy Uniform and gave his very best salute. It seemed to me a long salute, not the sharp, snappy kind. I still wonder what Dad was thinking about his father and this soldier we were honoring.
Over sixty-five years later I find myself reading of another visit to a cemetery by another veteran. This veteran was visiting a military cemetery in Normandy–a place he’d been 75 years ago. Instead of a salute, he suggested visitors “place your hand on the marble cross and realize there is a young boy six feet beneath you who gave his life for you. Then raise your head and see the other 9,400 crosses.”
In a strange irony, shortly after reading that I was reminded of General Douglas MacArthur’s farewell speech to West Point Cadets.
You are the leaven which binds together the entire fabric of our national system of defense. From your ranks come the great captains who hold the nation’s destiny in their hands the moment the war tocsin sounds. The Long Gray Line has never failed us. Were you to do so, a million ghosts in olive drab, in brown khaki, in blue and gray, would rise from their white crosses thundering those magic words – Duty – Honor – Country.
General Douglas MacArthur
It’s a sobering thought. I’d like to think the General wouldn’t mind if I suggest every one of us has a somewhat similar responsibility.
In war or peace, we each hold our nation’s destiny in our hands–indeed we hold the world’s destiny in our hands. And if we fail, a million ghosts… will rise from their white crosses to remind us “Duty — Honor — Country.”