The Memorial Day Parade in our town is SO much better than the Fourth of July Parade. The local daily newspapers didn't seem to do such a hot job of coordinating the time for the parade to start with the people who were in the parade, so the co-gathered throng was all set up in place by 9:59 AM (people were more prompt than they normally are for the 8 AM Sunday Morning Protestant Church services, here in town. I watched from the corner where Roger, from the 6:30 AM MacDonald's coffee klatch club and Republican Caucus (of Barrington, IL) said he "always" watches. He must have spied me first and then hidden away. Never once saw him. The parade is pretty short, bunch of American Legion guys, still marching, and several VFW guys, WWII and Korea, riding in cars donated for the event by the few local car dealerships that did not go out of business in the "downturn" of 2007/08.
After the parade passed, I followed up, even caught up, and walked the extra 1/2 mile to the cemetery. This is a respectfully somber deal, although there was some C&W song, with a setting of the singer of the song singing from the grave yard at Arlington, Virginia, so, there is a good deal of schmaltz (propaganda) going on. And I stuck pretty much to the end, until the lady preacher came on, the one who has tripled the membership of the community church in town on Grove Avenue, where Ray (the Barber) Tourville was a member for so long, until something happened, and he just up and quit. Can somebody 'splain to me PULLEASE, why in the world we need a human being of the cloth up on this pulpit, this venue, this OPPORTUNITY, to be respectful, to actually make a political statement without it being overtly political, to rather than be respectful and say something pro forma, WHY IN HELL do we need a highly respected lady preacher of the community to go up there and LIE IN OUR FACES that these soldiers have died so that we might have our freedoms? This is anathema to the eyes and ears of the Lord God Almighty, and I have the feeling that while "in my father's house, there are many rooms" there will NOT be a lot of combat fatality souls hanging out in this preacher's room, EVER.
SKY PILOT
HOW HIGH CAN YOU FLY?
YOU'LL NEVER, NEVER,
REACH THE SKY
But should this be any surprise? Hell, the doctor (it might even have been the surgeon general of the United States) whose name went out with the Western Union letters to my grand parents advising them of my Uncle 1st Lt James Raymond Hockett's "medical condition" called him "gravely ill." For Christ's sakes. He was mortally wounded in combat. That it took him a while to die makes him "gravely ill?" WTF is with THAT. Lies, lies, lies and more lies, and the obfuscation of language. DO NOT EVER let your people know what war is about (or your soldiers know what war is for, lest they write such essays as "WAR IS A RACKET."
Monday, May 28, 2012 by Common Dreams
Let’s De-Militarize Memorial Day
Let’s take Memorial Day back from the military. True, war has been the means of reducing millions of human beings to distant memories, but why should we reduce our national day of mourning to just those who have died in the line of duty as soldiers?
This Memorial Day, I want to honor my ancestors, at least as far back as my family memory goes. On both sides of my family, my ancestors were hounded out of Europe by the dogs of anti-Semitism and greed. Under great pressure, facing an uncertain future in a faraway land, in a time when leaving home very likely meant never again seeing or speaking with family and friends, they bravely gathered what they could carry and set off to try to establish a better future for their descendants.
They succeeded. My family has prospered here in America. On my father’s side, the three surviving children of my Russian immigrant great-grandparents became a doctor, a lawyer and (my grandmother) a teacher. On my mother’s side, the German emigrants of the late 19th century became comfortable businessmen, doctors and dentists.
The Depression took its toll on my family, but by and large they did well, creating generations of hard-working, honest, loving people who entered energetically into building the American Dream.
Just because none of them died in war doesn’t mean we shouldn’t honor them on Memorial Day.
Perhaps we should turn Memorial Day into something more akin to the Meso-American Day of the Dead. Instead of a day of military-style parades, it should be a day to visit ancestral grave sites and lovingly remember those who have passed on.
This Memorial Day, I raise a toast to the departed, to peace, and to life!
No comments:
Post a Comment