Getting it right

 

"As the expression goes, 'All gave some, but some gave all'. And that is what tomorrow is all about. We do what we do on Memorial Day, because of those who gave all. It is the day we honor them. We live in the home of the free, because of the brave."  

As a young lad growing up, I was blessed to be living across the street from Victory Memorial Drive. For us kids in the area, the drive served as a de facto playground for most of the year. The trees which were planted alongside grave markers (no graves - just the markers), were to honor the fallen. Originally from the Great War (WWI), and then also for World War II.

It was a great place to grow up. I lived in Robbinsdale, and right across the street where Victory Drive was located - was Minneapolis. Like I said, the drive was our de facto playground. In the summer, it was baseball. The trees acted like bases for us. Not perfect, but very convenient compared to riding our bikes down to a real baseball diamond. And in the fall - it was football. Lots and lots of pick-up football games played there.

But one day, one very special day every year, the flags came out and the Auxiliary showed up for a very solemn ceremony to honor our fallen. And it was also loud, as the Auxiliary would do a 21-gun salute on different parts of the Drive. The big ceremony, however, always culminated at the end of the Drive, by the flagpole. My dad, a WWII vet, would ensure that his kids knew the history and significance of that day in May. 

When I came home from overseas from my first duty assignment in the Navy, I was hoping to make it home by Memorial Day. As much as that day meant to me as a youth, it meant something deeper to me after serving overseas. Why? Two reasons really - the first was Viet Nam. It was a war in which most of us knew one or more young men who gave it all for their country.

And second, was where I was stationed on Okinawa. The base I lived on was one of the main assault beaches from WWII. It was a place where many young men, about my age, died in the service of their country. To be stationed there for a year and a half was very sobering.

Why call this article "getting it right"? It has taken a while, but more and more people are now getting it. Armed Forces Day is to honor the people currently serving in our Armed Forces. Veteran's Day is for those who have served and then came home. But Memorial Day is only for the fallen. Not those currently serving, and not those who have served and returned. It is for those who never came home.

As the expression goes, "All gave some, but some gave all". And that is what tomorrow is all about. We do what we do on Memorial Day, because of those who gave all. It is the day we honor them. We live in the home of the free, because of the brave.