The Memorial Day holiday has become a day with dual and contrasting sets of activities and mindsets. Memorial Day is both a solemn occasion for remembering and honoring our war dead and it is also the “unofficial” beginning of warm weather picnics, outdoor activities and family gatherings.
Next Monday, May 28 is the official Memorial Day holiday when schools will close, major stores will have sales, backyard barbecues will be ablaze and Lake Sonoma and Russian River beaches will be jam-packed.
Oh yes, and a few small gatherings of veterans and others will bow heads, share prayers and offer quiet tributes to the men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedoms and democracy.
Next Monday, whether we visit a graveside or toss hamburgers on the grill, just about all of us will pause somewhere for a few moments to remember and rejoice that we still live in the greatest country in the world.
We would hope these sentiments and remembrances will especially be shared with our youth. That is because we must hold on to the original meanings and purposes of Memorial Day. We fear we may be losing close touch and understanding of the values of military service, defense of liberty and the callings of valor, loyalty and justice.
Memorial Day gatherings will take place locally in Cloverdale, Healdsburg, Windsor, Sebastopol and Geyserville. The Cloverdale American Legion, VFW and Sons of the American Legion are honoring America’s fallen soldiers at 10 a.m. at the Cloverdale Cemetery.
The Gold Ridge VFW Post of Sebastopol and the Sebastopol Community Band will host a program at 10:45 a.m. at Sebastopol Memorial Lawn.
Healdsburg American Legion Post #111 will officiate at Memorial Day services in Healdsburg, Geyserville and Windsor. The Healdsburg event, at Oak Mound Cemetery, begins at 10 a.m. The Olive Hill Cemetery in Geyserville hosts an event beginning at 11 a.m. The Windsor event, held at 12 noon, is at Shiloh Cemetery.
These are times when more school children are being killed than soldiers in our wars in Afghanistan and the Middle East. Our military missions involving North Korea, Syria or against non-state terrorists fail to rally the same national allegiance as fighting Nazi aggression in World War II or ending the horrible destruction of much of Europe in World War I.
Beyond next week’s Memorial Day ceremonies led by local VFW and American Legion officers and auxiliary members, our nation seems lacking in true patriots and role models of national service, soldier-citizens or honor-bound leaders.
We are hard-pressed to teach our young people who the real enemies are against our country or its freedoms. The U.S. has 1.3 million active duty soldiers and sailors and 800,000 more reserves. Since 1986, we have had an all-volunteer military. Our armed forces are spread all around the world in support of past war treaties, diplomatic security, surveillance and defense of our international trade activities and our allies.
Once upon a time young men joined the Army, Navy Air Force and Marine Corps because Uncle Sam said he needed them. Now today’s soldiers, both men and women, don’t join the army. Instead, they are being told “the Army wants to join you.”
Recruitment calls say “be all you can be” and join an “Army of One.” Military service has become more of a career choice than a call to patriotic duty. Still, the sacrifices and pledge to ultimate duty remain the same.
Perhaps a time will come when our Memorial Days will be celebrated only with picnics or joyous gatherings. The graves of soldiers will be with us forever. But perhaps one day Memorial Day will be a day to remember when the final wars ended and the soldiers finally came home.
