Remember the Fallen Heroes

If today you haven't shown any acknowledgment for these heroes, then shame on you. Pull your head out of the sands of entitlement and grasp the reality that your gift of freedom is sustained through the blood of those who can't spend this holiday making fun memories with their families. -William Legge, USAF, retired.

Into the Jaws of Death, Omaha Beach, June 6, 1944

I lost the woman I loved to a long and tortuous death due to an incurable and slow growing cancer.  Her one aspiration in life was to be a mother, and she threw all of her efforts into educating, nurturing, feeding and playing with her children.  She left behind seven. She wailed and mourned through the months she was dying and leaving them, but she raised happy children who felt love, and a desire to live free.

Every day I memorialize her and shed a tear.  I shall visit her grave this weekend, and the grave of my father and mother, and her father and mother.  Yet, Memorial Day is not for her.  It is not for victims of any disease.  

Congressional leaders have petitioned the President to order flags flown at half-mast for COVID-19 victims.  The President agreed to this kind gesture, but not on Memorial Day.  He stated that the flags would be flown at half-mast on that day to honor our fallen military dead.  Hurray!  Remember that, Memorial Day is a day to honor those who have bled to death in securing our freedoms.  

Very few of us know or can comprehend the horrors of battle, which cause stout-hearted men to defecate in their pants.  The closest most will come to understand these horrors, is by watching the first 20 minutes of Saving Private Ryan, and it is just a small taste.  If you have never done this, you need to.  I will be watching it again with my teenage boys this weekend. 

I recently read an article in Politico which talked about “good things” that would hopefully come about due to COVID-19.  One of those “good things” was a shift in patriotism, away from honoring military members, and more toward honoring medical personnel and small business owners. 

This angered me as a veteran, and as a medical person and small business owner.  I was angered at the ignorance that trivialized patriotic honor, the ignorance of the warriors sacrifice, and it felt like an assault against those that defend American freedom. 

I do not deserve patriotic honor, though I am willing to accept it as a veteran out of respect for other veterans and fallen heroes who do deserve that honor.  I do not deserve that same patriotic honor by virtue of being a doctor or small business owner.  

I am grateful for my plumber as I am my doctor. Nurses, civil engineers and plumbers are all noble parts of a process that keeps us healthy. I have clean water and waste disposal which keep me from getting sick. My home builder provided me with shelter to keep me safe. All were paid, but they all gave real service too.

Every American who works to provide for his or her family, who gives good service, and values freedom deserves honor; but don’t confuse their sacrifices with those that have died defending that freedom.  Those who stood against the enemy in the horrors of combat, and spilt their blood deserve a more sacred honor, a truly patriotic honor.  They are the ones that deserve every flag at half-mast.

My inspiration to write today, came from a Facebook post many years ago.  William Legge is an Air Force friend who wrote this scathing rebuke of those of us who only see Memorial Day as a fun day to make memories with family.  Here is a portion of what he wrote: 

My son came home from class confused stating he was taught Memorial Day was a holiday to celebrate all who ever died. WRONG. It is a day for "remembering the men and women who died while serving in the military." Do NOT dilute the respect due for their sacrifice by including remembrances for those who did not 'give all' for our nation. Pick any other day of the year to remember your civilian dead, but on this day YOU yourself hang the flag in your yard in remembrance, YOU bend a knee to give a prayer of support for those Gold Star families, and YOU visit the grave of a fallen hero to pay respect. Their final resting places are easy to find -- Google 'national cemetery.'  If today you haven't shown any acknowledgment for these heroes, then shame on you. Pull your head out of the sands of entitlement and grasp the reality that your gift of freedom is sustained through the blood of those who can't spend this holiday making fun memories with their families. -William Legge, USAF, retired.