Memorial Day is always a bit of a mixed blessing for me. I appreciate the wishes for a "happy Memorial Day" from various folks, but it's not really a happy holiday, is it?
That's especially true for me, since at this time in 1969, my battalion had suffered between 30 - 40 % casualties (killed and wounded) in a series of battles south of Da Nang. When I visited the Viet Nam Memorial for the first time in 1983, I looked for the panels that would have contained the names of some of those folks, but it was too much - there were so many names. And those were just U.S. names - imagine what a Vietnamese memorial would look like (the Vietnamese suffered casualties on the order of 1 - 3 million deaths; an equivalent proportionate loss for the U.S. would require a Viet Nam memorial with space for 25 million names).
I often inflict some movie on my family that I think encapsulates what Memorial Day is supposed to be about. I remember having Colleen watch "Saving Private Ryan" and when it was over, she started to go up to her room in complete silence. I asked her what she thought and she burst into tears. We had a good discussion after she'd shed her load of tears. I suppose that's what I hoped would happen.
While down in Savannah, we saw a plaque which noted that Memorial Day originated in the south (the impression we got was that it originated in Savannah). Turns out Decoration Day originated with black Americans who decorated the graves of Union soldiers, both black and white, in Charleston, S.C. I guess that means I'll be watching "Glory" this Memorial Day.
I would feel better about this holiday if I thought we'd learned something from these various wars. Sadly, I can't say that; witness what Bush and Cheney expected when we invaded Iraq. Oh, well, we can't remain stubborn forever. A salute to all you vets out there - I hope you have a meaningful Memorial Day.
