In Memoriam
Today is Memorial Day, the day that formally reminds us to honor and mourn the lives of the heroes and heroines that passed fighting wars and conflicts protecting the independence, liberties, and rights woven into the framework and fabric of the United States. It’s a short-lived day that should effectively instill a long-lived appreciation and sincere acknowledgment for the 2.8 million brave souls that have been lost in battle - additionally more than 40 thousand remain missing.
It is a day where, depending on the expanse, thousands to tens of thousands of the Star-Spangled Banner wave in the breezes above the green, cemetery soils. These were ceremoniously placed there by today’s veterans in a solemn ritual known as “the boot”. If you have watched the formality of the practice which happens at each grave site, irrespective of the late soldier’s rank, simultaneously there is a powerful emanation and welling of pride, patriotism, and heartache.
It is also a day we pay homage and respect to family, friends, and acquaintances that have passed on; those that have provided us with a life better than the one in which they lived or endured. Multiple grave sites are adorned with flowers, both real and imitation, as well as religious crosses, small statues, and, at all times, a memory or perhaps many of that person resting peacefully beneath our feet.
Not so many years ago, Martha Cothren, a history teacher at Joe T. Robinson High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, removed all of the desks from her classroom. When the students arrived she told them they could have the desks back if they could tell her how they earned the right to have a desk. None of the students responded in a manner Ms. Cothren thought was appropriate, thus all the students went without desks for an entire day until near the end of that school day.
At the day’s conclusion she opened the classroom door and 27 United States military veterans, in full uniform, entered each carrying a desk. After each desk was placed in perfectly aligned rows, the teacher said, "You don't have to earn those desks. These guys did it for you. They put them out there for you, but it's up to you to sit here responsibly, to learn, to be good students and good citizens because they paid a price for you to have that desk. Don't ever forget it."
And like those students, we also should never forget.
There are days and times when the prevailing subject of a typical article is not quite as important or crucial as a day of heartfelt remembrance. Tomorrow, thankful to those remembered today, bursts forth, yet another day and another opportunity.