Memorial Day 2019: Remembering All of Ours and All the Days when Being American was Everything.
May 27, 2019
By MG Paul E. Vallely, US Army Ret.
We pause this day in America to remember our fallen heroes, the men and women who answered the call of freedom and paid the ultimate sacrifice. We lament our losses, the losses of our friends, the losses from our communities and our nation as a whole – we bow our heads in silent sorrow, but our hearts are also filled with pride for their service to each and every American – to the longevity of our nation and way of life.
Let us remember and thank them for the nights they slept freezing in a tent, or sweating in the desert, for the lonely days they spent fighting boredom and missing loved ones, for the hours they spent sick in pain from battle and without someone holding their hand other than their fellow soldiers, for the moments of sheer fright in the heat of battle, for the wounds suffered fighting evil, for the endless days in hospitals undergoing painful surgeries, for the precious occasions missed at home with family and friends.
For all of these sacrifices, we need to thank them on behalf of millions of Americans who are so grateful. We truly appreciate their dedication to duty, living up to their oaths, honoring those who came before them, and defending our Constitution.
I wish a special thank you to all the families and friends as well. I want to thank the parents who raised them, stood by them, and made them honorable men and woman. Most especially, we thank the wives, husbands, and loved ones who stood by them and supported them with their love as well.
May their legacy be honored for generations to come, may the tears shed over their coffins fertilize the fields of patriotism in our nation. The new generations to come must be built on strength, duty, honor and country, willing and able to follow in their Warrior footsteps when duty calls to defend America. May their blood not have been shed in vain. May we prove worthy of their sacrifice.
You who have served and are serving as our brave ones, our heroes, are our national treasures. You are the pride of our nation, our strength and our foundation.
Thanks to you, millions have been freed around the world. Those who criticize our country, burn our precious flag, and speak ill of you, are able to do so because their freedom is built upon your blood and your sacrifice.
Our son speaks from his resting place. He speaks to me each day from his hallowed space with beautiful skies and mountains majestic white with snow. God bless his soul and the others and I thank him for his wonderful contribution to our life.
He lives forever in our hearts. I fear no evil when I walk with Warriors. We walk in the valley of the shadow of death, but we fear no evil. We are the Masters of our Destiny and the Captains of our souls.
You are the wind beneath my wings, and I will fly with you forever in eternity.
Originally known as Decoration Day, Memorial Day began as a tradition of decorating the graves of fallen Civil War soldiers with flags and flowers to show the respect of a grateful nation for their service and sacrifice. This tradition continues today, and our nation now sets aside the last Monday in May to celebrate the courage of the men and women who have worn America’s colors in war and in peace.
I recall as a young man, remembering on Memorial Day that in the morning there was a parade down Main Street, led by a color guard, the high school band, and ranks of veterans from World War I, World War II, and the war of the moment, Korea.
The Veterans of Foreign Wars sold red poppies to raise funds for the disabled. Politicians made speeches and citizens prayed in public.
It was a solemn annual event that taught us reverence for those who served and sacrificed for our country.
It is no longer so in many places in America, especially in our large urban areas.
Sadly, it is now best known to all too many as the beginning of summer, a day for a barbecue, not a day of remembrance.
Begun as a local observance in the aftermath of the Civil War, the first national commemoration took place on May 30, 1868, at the direction of General John A. Logan, Commander of the Grand Army of the Republic.
Though his “General Order No. 11” specified “strewing with flowers or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country during the late rebellion” – meaning only Union soldiers – those who tended the burial sites at Arlington, VA, Gettysburg, PA, and Vicksburg, MS, decided on their own to decorate the graves of both Union and Confederate war dead.
For five decades the holiday remained essentially unchanged. But in 1919, as the bodies of young Americans were being returned to the U.S. from the battlefields of World War I, May 30th became a truly national event. It persisted as such until 1971, during the Vietnam War – the war America wanted to forget – when the Uniform Holiday Act passed by Congress went into effect, and turned Memorial Day into a “three-day weekend.”
Since then, it’s become an occasion for appliance, mattress, and auto sales, a day for picnics, barbecues, and auto races. Thankfully, there are some places besides Arlington National Cemetery, places like Bigfork, Montana, where Memorial Day is still observed as a time to honor America’s war dead.
This Memorial Day we remember those who have served our nation in the past and those who currently serve America today. Although Memorial Day comes only once a year, we must make sure that our service members know how grateful we are every day. This day recognizes the sacrifices made by our courageous men and women who have fallen in defense of our nation’s liberty.
This Memorial Day, please take a moment to remember and honor America’s fallen and our current day warriors who are advancing freedom’s cause and defending us in far away lands, always at the ready.
WE salute you one and all. WE bow before you in respect and humility. May God bless you and God bless America – the land of the free and the home of the brave.
