Memorial Day, the most misunderstood American holiday. What’s the point?
Too many people confuse it with Veterans Day or they treat them as one in the same. I served 5 years in the United States Army National Guard. Enlisting in 2004, the year we officially went boots down in Iraq.
I have always struggled with people thanking me for my service. To me, that’s not the point of service. I did what I felt needed to be done. And I got out fairly unscathed. I did my time, I learned a lot and met a lot of really incredible people.
But Memorial Day is for those who sacrificed their freedom so that we could have it. It actually started back in Civil War times to honor those who wouldn’t ever come home.
I often talk about how cushy my job was in the military, I was in the band… it wasn’t all fun and games. The part that will always stick with me is the homecomings and funerals. Kids my age, I got in when I was 17. I turned 18 at basic combat training, at the time I was a Light Wheeled Vehicle Mechanic… someone trained to fix and drive Humvees. My company commander took me aside before Christmas my first year and said he had just been informed we were to join the forward part of the company (142nd) in Iraq at the start of the new year. But he couldn’t in good conscience bring an 18 year old. He told me there was a band across the street and he wanted me to go and audition. He likely saved my life.
I wish I could thank him. Unfortunately, he never came home. That homecoming celebration was a difficult one for me. There were a lot of casualties in the unit. They all, like so many did in the homecomings after… put on a smiling face. They thanked everyone for coming and they did their speeches. But you never come home the same. It’s the drinking… the thousand mile stares…
It’s a horrible sacrifice that some families make. War is ugly no matter which way you look at it.
Memorial Day is the day we honor those who didn’t come home. Those whose smiling faces, laughter, and jokes we will never hear again.
There is a reason you don’t say, “Happy Memorial Day.” It isn’t a celebration. There is a reason you will find grumpy vets growling at those who don’t know using it as a day to get plastered and act like assholes. But truthfully, every one of us who knows… is also silently appreciative because the sacrifice of our brothers and sisters allowed for that freedom.
No, maybe not in Iraq, or Vietnam… (I’m going to keep my political opinions to myself) but there are sacrifices that directly improved American life. Those sacrifices allowed my fat ass to sit in a pool and swim laps until I’m out of breath instead of worrying about whether my home is safe or whether I’m going to have to physically defend my family.
Please enjoy your freedom today. Appreciate that you ARE free to do as you like. To work in whatever profession you want. And to share with the world ANYTHING you want.
