Memorial Day- Honor, Observance, and the Great Debt We Owe.
Today is the day we honor and show our respect for our nation’s heroes. We recognize our veterans and especially those that have fallen during wars/conflicts/line-of-duty that have given service, and or the ultimate sacrifice. This is afforded to us by these great men and women for our great country, our freedom, and pursuit of the American dream.
I grew up in a military family. My father, Eugene Joyner was a career Navy man, retiring after 22 years in 1974. He served on the USS Wisconsin, USS New Jersey, and a handful of other ships. We were not told of many experiences he had, but it was a serious conversation when mentioning the “Bay of Pigs.” I also have two uncles David McCoy, and Neil McCoy who served during the Korean and Vietnam wars. They do not talk about it much. What was not said was understood. It was serious stuff, and it greatly impacted them. In our family, showing honor and respect on this day, and the other 364 days was ingrained in our upbringing. We were taught to respect and show our gratitude for all those in uniform who served us, and those who served us in the past. We knew the significance, the depth of what it all meant.
Without question, our veterans, our heroes deserve our gratitude, honor, and respect. In general, the majority of us as Americans get this. It is my belief that it is wrong to confuse free speech, and protest with the fundamental honor and respect due to these great men and women. We honor and love them, but may vehemently hate war. Today we honor our own, not to debate war itself or the darker side of humanity.
My thoughts and wanderings today brought me to this question today: What if any do we owe or in debt to for those that we honor today? As I thought about this, I gave reflection to what they sacrificed for, what was so important to them they would willingly die for. The low hanging fruit is easy- protect family, loved ones, friends, neighbors, fellow Americans. During the great wars the threat was easy to identify, today we see terrorist acts which can strike anyone of us. Protecting each other is a fundamental motivation. I think what we owe these great men and women is how we conduct ourselves, how we treat each other, how we contribute to our way of life, the greater common good. Is it not fair to say that the great sacrifices were afforded to preserve if not promote all the good and virtues of the American way of life, our freedoms, and the things we enjoy and pursue? It is not unlike moral code ingrained in our beliefs of faith, the way we make the world a better place by our contributions/roles that we give of ourselves. It is my deeply held conviction that we honor them best by making good on the freedoms they fought for. The freedom to choose doing good deeds, work hard, raise our children well, treating others well, deal with others honestly, and fairly. Would it not be fitting to honor them by making what they sacrificed for worthy, and a much better place? This is what they deserve in our gratitude, our debt to pay. I believe this would be redeeming for all of us.
With this I leave you with these thoughts to ponder. As you enjoy the day in celebrating and honoring these great men and women, spend time with family and loved ones, that you make good in some small way on what you have gained by their efforts and sacrifice.
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