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Poetrooper sent me his thoughts on the celebration of Memorial Day, and I’ve finally found time to post up. It is a bit late, and for that I apologize- need to manage my time better. Anyway, here’s Poe, with another thought provoking article.<\/p>\n
Poetrooper<\/strong><\/p>\n From dictionary.com: Wake\u2014a watch or vigil by the body of a dead person before burial, sometimes accompanied by feasting or merrymaking.<\/p>\n FOX News featured a special broadcast this past weekend honoring our veterans, both fallen and surviving, which really cut to the core of an issue that many Americans, including many veterans, especially combat veterans find troubling: Too many Americans have lost sight of the meaning of Memorial Day and just consider it another reason for a long holiday weekend in which to grill, drink and relax at the lake, the park or just in the back yard.<\/p>\n This special, entitled \u201cModern Warriors,\u201d was headed up by Pete Hegseth, a former combat infantry officer, who hosted Navy SEAL, Lone Survivor<\/a> Marcus Luttrell and his twin brother, Morgan, also a medically retired SEAL, as well as Chad Fleming, an Army Ranger officer who served five deployments after<\/em><\/a> he lost a leg due to combat wounds, and Congressman Adam Kinzinger, currently a lieutenant colonel in the Air Force reserves, a pilot with multiple combat deployments. It was truly a group of warriors, an impressive group of America\u2019s finest fighters. Half way through the show, during a commercial break, my wife turned to me and said, \u201cI am so glad we have young men like that protecting us.\u201d I nodded agreement, an old warrior, knowing exactly how she felt.<\/p>\n But what struck me most about this small group of tough, combat-hardened men was their unanimous agreement in the closing segment regarding how they felt Memorial Day should be celebrated. To a man they thought that the key word is celebrated\u2014yes, this is a day of tribute to the fallen, but we should recognize that most of those fallen were young men\u2014so how would they behave on a day off honoring their sacrifice? Again, to a man, this group of combat veterans agreed that their fallen buddies would be maintaining a happy vigil, grilling at the lake, the park, or in their back yards while happily hoisting brews in heartfelt salutes to their fellow warriors.<\/p>\n To those of you who feel that all Memorial Day observations should be formal, solemn affairs, I would ask you to consider the youth of the huge majority of America\u2019s fallen warriors and to ask yourselves how those young men would prefer to see their lives and their sacrifices honored. As an old combat infantryman, I can attest that those of my friends who fell in Vietnam would vote overwhelmingly for a free-drinking, hard-partying barbecue over a solemn, military-style ceremony. To my way of thinking, it should be a post-burial wake where friends and strangers alike remember the lost young warriors and honor their loss with frequent toasts and great food, just as those young men would have done for their own fallen friends, had they, themselves, been here today.<\/p>\n The upshot: Simply honor them the way they would have honored you.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Makes sense to me; thanks, Poe.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\n
A National Wake: Simply honor them the way they would have honored you<\/h3>\n