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June 02, 2006
In time of war
The surprise hot topic of the week was Memorial Day.
Monitor readers were full of opinions: Concord’s parade was too short. Too many people ignore the purpose of the holiday and turn the weekend into a three-day barbecue. Antiwar veterans should have stayed home from the parade. Antiwar veterans had every right to march. Political expression dishonors the dead. Politicians have ulterior motives for marching in parades. The state’s official observance on the traditional May 30 is the real Memorial Day. Or is it?
There are several reasons the debate was sharp.
To deal with the most basic one first, it is a shame there is not a single Memorial Day. I prefer May 30, but we have lost that fight. New Hampshire should adopt the federal holiday even though it leads to a three-day weekend. Having two holidays dilutes the meaning of Memorial Day even more than observing it on Monday.
The real problem is participation. Memorial Day should not be observed mainly by brothers and sisters in arms. Every American should make time to honor those who have sacrificed their lives for our country.
This year’s debate went well beyond the perennial issue of when Memorial Day should be.
In part, that is because the deaths of soldiers are so fresh in mind. Memorial Day 2006 was about deaths long ago, but it was also about mourning – and questioning – deaths that are occurring now.
Things in Iraq and Afghanistan are going badly. America’s active participation in World War II lasted from Dec. 7, 1941, until Aug. 15, 1945 – three years, six months and eight days. If we date the current war to 9/11, an event often compared to Pearl Harbor Day, the war on terror has now lasted four years, eight months and 21 days. And in Iraq at least, its end point is as uncertain as its cause is murky.
I thought invading Iraq was a mistake from the start, but I still try to put the best face on it. The other day, I found myself telling someone that for all the blood and treasure our country is expending there, maybe 20 years from now Iraq will be a better place. Then I thought: How pathetic! Is that the best I can do?
My darker side tells me our presence in Iraq and Afghanistan is creating more, not fewer, enemies and making our future worse, not better.
I’m sure many people have things over there figured out much better than I do. My point is that the Memorial Day debate reflects our differences about the war. Those who want to keep the day pure – to limit its focus to honoring the nation’s war dead – believe that introducing arguments about the current war taints that purity. Veterans who paraded against the war believed their protest honored soldiers both dead and living.
I see both sides of this debate, although I come down strongly on one side.
The feeling for Americans killed serving their country is strong. They deserve their day.
But I also know that some men I buried as a soldier on funeral detail during the Vietnam War opposed the war. It is a misperception to think that all who make the supreme sacrifice believe in – or even understand – the cause for which they die. The stones in a military cemetery may line up in neat rows, but in life the people who lie beneath them possessed all the variety of thought and opinion of the human condition.
As a journalist, of course, I cherish freedom of expression. I applaud the Veterans for Peace for marching and making their point. I don’t see how a protest against the war in Iraq interferes with the ability to have solemn feelings for the war dead. I wonder if those offended by the protesters have thought enough about our mission in Iraq.
We’d all be better off if Memorial Day were observed on a single day and if more of the public showed up to observe it. And while we’re honoring our dead, we’d all be better off if, instead of quietly acquiescing to our national leaders, we used the occasion to engage in more debate about a policy that continues to send our men and women to their death.
Posted by Mike Pride at June 2, 2006 05:31 PM
Comments
I did indeed turn the weekend into a three-day barbeque. I do not honor war, or those who fight in it.
Posted by: David at June 2, 2006 06:52 PM
Well Mike, Now you know why most New Hampshire Citizens and Veterans want to maintain May 30th as the real Memorial Day. Just read "David's" comments and you will know why we want to dump his 3 day chance to barbeque. I wonder if his comments is because of his religious believes. If it is he should stop forcing his believes on the general population. Sound familiar?
Posted by: ED at June 5, 2006 05:00 AM