By: David Conde
Memorial Day and its predecessor Decoration Day were ceremonial outcomes of the American Civil War. So is the national cemetery system set up to bury soldiers that fell in the conflict.
Honoring the ultimate sacrifice of those that died in the field of battle has become a common occurrence as the United States has participated in many major conflicts on its way to the top as a world power. Yet, the nature of war has changed especially after World War II.
When North Korea suddenly attacked the South, the event was treated as an unusual situation. Eventually, it came to be called a Police Action. It was still war and its dead were heroes buried in national cemeteries. The Korean War monument in Washington D.C. is a dramatic expression of the haunting moment of loneliness and sacrifice.
Vietnam provides another radical departure from common war, if you can call it that, as there were no lines of demarcation between the foes in battle. The fight was both internal and external with tactical winners becoming strategic losers. Vietnam was also colored in controversy as the people were divided for and against the war. That division generally fell across generational lines as it saw those born after World War II actively disagree with their parents and politicians.
Dying in Vietnam no longer carried the badge of honor that it did in other wars. Vietnam veterans still grieve the lack of respect for their sacrifice.
The Vietnam War was also the last to be fought by draft- ees. This fact added salt to the wounds of those that saw themselves as citizen soldiers doing the country’s bidding because they had to. It thus became a necessity to name everyone that died in this war on the impressive monument in the nation’s capital. America has to stand and face the names of those fallen on their behalf. The rise of terrorism changed the concept of war and the United States military. The Gulf War in 1991 and the later invasion of Iraq were only a prelude to suicide terrorist attacks around the world.
9/11 marks the formal point where it was no longer just the military that went into harm’s way as civilians by the thousands died at the hands of suicide terrorists. The fight in Afghanistan and the post-invasion of Iraq typifies the nature of war in our modern era.
This is a far cry from the original circumstances that led to Decoration and later Memorial Day. Throughout this history, America has learned that reverence not only for our war dead but also for our soldiers and veterans is a must.
The alternative can be seen in the present Russian soldier in Ukraine who feels disrespected and refuses to fight. There is little incentive to fight for the wrong reason.
In this vein, stories abound about the initiation of Memorial Day. One of the earliest features former slaves that dug up a mass grave in a Confederate prison in Charleston, South Carolina and reburied 257 Union soldiers less than a month after the end of the Civil War.
We all have our family stories of loved ones who are buried in national cemeteries and elsewhere. It is important that we continue the stories by visiting and honoring those that have done the most for this country.
It is true that the meaning of Memorial Day is changing because the circumstances around it are not as they were. Honoring our military dead, however, does not need to change.
