In regards to the return of Memorial Day once again, I believe our soldiers
and veterans, past and present, should not be linked in with what has
become known in recent years as the "official kick off of summer".
Image courtesy/The Seattle Times
While I am not opposed to people holding backyard barbecues or taking a trip
to the beach, I do not think this day of solemnity to honor the memory of our
fallen military heroes should be used to sell cars. Save it for the 4th of July.
Our soldier and veterans, past and present, should be honored and thanked,
not just on one single day in late May, but every day of the year.
When I have looked up at Old Glory waving in the wind against the sky,
presiding over the rows of soldiers' graves in the military cemetery
near me, where my father, Anthony Brida, a veteran of the United States
Marine Corps., is interred, or, in Hawaii, or at Arlington... words often
fail me when I consider the enormity of the sacrifices made
by those resting beneath the soil.
I have also visited Punchbowl Crater National Cemetery in Honolulu. But what
I remember most about my trip to Hawaii in 1987 was visiting the Arizona Memorial
at Pearl Harbor. Standing there looking down at the sunken battleship below the
surface of the water, I experienced both a sad and eerie feeling thinking about
the young men entombed beneath my feet who had lost their lives in the Japanese
attack at Pearl Harbor on that dreadful morning, Sunday, December 7, 1941.
All of them were true American heroes.
A few years ago, I read the book, "Unbroken" by Laura Hillenbrand, recounting the
story of WWII veteran Louis Zamperini. I could hardly get through some of the
chapters of this book without crying as I read the accounts of the absolute horrors
suffered by many of our servicemen serving in the Pacific theater of the war.
While some, like Mr. Zamperini, survived, and came home again, I often
think of the American men who never came back and are lying buried
beneath foreign soil. And not only on remote islands in the South Pacific,
but on the battlefields of Europe...in the mountains of Korea... the jungles
of Vietnam, the deserts of Iraq and Afghanistan...
When I see the sorry state of Washington DC politics today I have to ask myself,
"Were the sacrifices of these brave souls for this? Unfortunately, the answer is a
resounding, "Yes!" The men who gave their lives in service to this nation died
for the freedom of smarmy, career politicians as well as my own.
I met an elderly man one day while shopping in the grocery store. He was wearing a cap
with the insignia of a battleship. I asked him if he was a veteran. He answered, yes,
and that he had served in the U.S. Navy during the Korean War. When I shook his
hand and thanked him for my freedom, he seemed startled at first, and then began
to cry. He told me he did not think many people, especially the ones in
Washington DC, cared about his service to our nation.
I told him that it was not true and that many American people appreciated him.
To all the soldiers and veterans reading this post, may you have a beautiful
and blessed Memorial Day. Thank you for your service to our nation and
especially, for protecting and defending my freedom.
To those who are no longer here on this earth, may they rest in eternal peace.
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