Flyby Memorial
I am not a pacifists. A short, red-head kid with freckles and big teeth knows there are times when you have to find a way to stand up to a bully. Sometimes that means defending yourself or knocking the bully down in public. It is confessional for me to say that I typically live by “Don’t get mad get even.” My family tree has roots in Scotch-Irish, French-Creole, and Native American tradition. Few in my family have served in the military. I’m not sure why that is, but we don’t have any family members that I know that won’t talk about what they saw or did during the war. Memorial Day, though, for all of us should be a time to remember the humanity, the connectedness of nation states, economies, the failures of diplomacy, and the desire to conquere that leads to war.
What troubles me most about this holiday is that even though we are involved in two active theaters of war, one a response and one we allowed a previous Vice-President and puppet President to declare, we are told the patriotic thing to do is drop some cash at the local mall or super-size box store rather than visit the local cemetery where the dead of war are buried. Memorial Day is scheduled like the opening of the Indianapolis 500, or any Nascar weekend. It comes with “God Bless America”, a bunch of folks in military uniform, flyby air power, “Amazing Grace” on bagpipes, a prayer that never asks forgiveness for not being peacemakers, and fireworks for the kids. Please pardon me, I’m still learning the art of candor.
In a time when government officials and governments around the world are seeking to “send a message” is it time for our Nation to set aside Memorial Day as a time to ask forgiveness from those who have died in war? Rather than offer a flag and words, “on behalf of a grateful nation” to family shouldn’t we ask their forgiveness and offer our apologies? As a Nation concerned for freedom, liberty, and democracy we should be asking forgiveness at every headstone in Arlington, at every Memorial Wall, at the beaches in France, in Hiroshima, in Korea and Vietnam, at the death camps in Poland and Germany, and at the tombs of unknowns all around the world. That would be a memorial that did not glorify the death of a soldier or innocent victim as the ultimate sacrifice for their nation, political party, or religious heritage. It is not naive or soft. It would separate us from the machines and financial markets that thrive on conflict for profit. It would weave Memorial Day into our lives as something other than a flyby. It would demonstrate that as a nation we have learned a lesson, the lesson of war.
This is my Memorial Day prayer on behalf of family and friends whom have served or now serve in the military of the United States of America.
Family
Kenneth Ferrier, Navy: Korea, uncle
Robert Ferrier, Navy: Korea, uncle
Barnie Wilson, Army: WWII: Japan, father-in-law
Ory Meredith, Army: Iraq War: Iraq & Afghanistan, second cousin
Friends / Former Youth Group Members
Craig Johnson, Army Chaplain: Persian Gulf War, Iraq War: Kuwait, Iraq
Curtis Jones, Air Force: classified
David Cooper, Air Force Chaplain: Bosnia, NATO, Germany, many others
Karen Rector, Navy Chaplain: Hawaii
Scott Storie, Navy Chaplain: Marine Base, Missouri