Memorial Day, or Decoration Day, used to be May 30, but the date changed at the request of Federal employees in 1971. Now, we observe Memorial Day on the last Monday in May. Arlington National Cemetery is the place that receives the most attention on Memorial Day, though it is but one of 141 national cemeteries in the United States and 24 others located on foreign soil.
Unfortunately, war is sometimes the answer. When it is, soldiers die.
War is sometimes the answer because freedom is something we cherish. We care for our neighbors, of course. The greatest single gift we can offer our neighbors is freedom. With freedom comes responsibility, responsibility to ensure that we maintain our freedom. Freedom is never free, but comes at a cost of lives, time, effort, and responsibility.
War is sometimes the answer because tyrants want to take freedom away. We may disagree over whether we fought this war or that war for the right reasons. Yet, this nation keeps its armed services ready because someone, somewhere, is plotting to take away our freedom. The greatest gift we can give to each other is a free nation. The greatest gift this nation can offer to the world is to remain free.
The living have a responsibility to remember the conditions that led to the wars in which soldiers died. They are the victims of a peace process that failed. The most sure path to peace is to stay strong, for weakness is a temptation to those who have evil, criminal intent. Weakness tempts the warlike, belligerent, and antagonistic in the world. Strength is a declaration that no one can misunderstand. Violent actions will have consequences. Strength is a prudent warning that aggression will receive an answer. The peace process fails when we forget that for which we stand. The principles and ideas upon which America stands are firm and have meaning. The process fails when we lack the common sense that deals with how human beings are rather than how we would like them to be. Human beings have noble ideas wrapped in clay. A difference exists between right and wrong. We maintain peace with clear eyes and brave minds. Each new day carries within it the potential for breakthroughs, for progress. As Ronald Reagan put it in 1989, each new day bursts with possibilities. And so, hope is realistic and despair a pointless little sin. And peace fails when we forget to pray to the Source of all peace and life and happiness.
Today, we have a volunteer military. These persons put their lives on the line for this nation every day. We are grateful for their service. Yet, as we all know, on this weekend, which is more than just a race, a long weekend, or a time for cookouts, it is a time to remember those who have died serving their country through the military.
The practice is centuries old. Pericles, the Athenian leader, noted “Not only are they commemorated by column and inscriptions, but there dwells also an unwritten memorial of them, graven not on stone but in the hearts of men.” He offered this tribute to the fallen heroes of the Peloponnesian War more than four centuries before Christ was born.
The words of Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and Abraham Lincoln were enough to inspire their generations, and many after them. Yet, without General George Washington and his soldiers, they would have been words on a page. Without the leadership of many generals, but especially U. S. Grant, and the many soldiers who fought in the Civil War, the words of Lincoln would never have liberated slaves. The opposition to the horrors of Nazi Germany would have been nothing more than fine sentiments were it not for the generals and soldiers who fought in WWII. In this imperfect world, no matter how beautiful the words, words are not enough.
Some people raise the question of whether this nation is worthy of such sacrifice. The simple answer is, unequivocally, “Yes.” Yet, many people, including many in the Christian community, think that on the world stage, all nations are morally equal. Is this nation different from that of others? The Declaration of Independence holds the answer.
“We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.”
I love my country. I am thankful for it. America has always been about an idea. It has fallen short of practicing the idea. However, let me ask you a couple questions. Do you love your spouse? I hope you do. Is he or she perfect? I seriously doubt it. Do you love your parents? I hope so. Are they perfect? They are far from it. We live in a nation today that is the result of decisions made by our “parents,” those who have gone on before us. Many of them saw the ways in which the nation fell short of the ideal of freedom and worked to expand such freedoms. We have even more work to do in this regard.
In my mind, this nation is a grand experiment worth sacrifice and effort. It practices freedom for more types of people than any nation on earth, and thereby encourages respect for the worth and dignity of all persons. This is already the most inclusive country in the world. It does not mean we all agree, but it does mean having enough respect for the other that they have their freedom to be who they are while you have the freedom to be who you are.
On this day, I hope we cherish the immortal words of Abraham Lincoln in his Gettysburg address:
"We can not dedicate, we can not consecrate, we can not hallow, this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract."
Today, we cannot consecrate this land. The over one million soldiers who have died have already done so.
We are saddened that it took a Civil War to end slavery, but many were willing to fight it. We are saddened that it took such military strength, treasure, and loss of life to defend freedom in two world wars, and the cold war conflicts of Korea and Vietnam. We are all sadden that it took freedom marches in the 1950's and 1960's to pass the Civil Rights Act, but it finally passed. Why do all of this? Because we have inherited freedom from past generations, and we want to pass on an even more free society to the next generation.
Two years after the Civil War, women of Columbus, Miss., strewed flowers on the graves of both Confederate and Union dead. The news of this act reached the North and helped heal the wounds of war and restore national unity. In May 1868, N. P. Chipman suggested to General John A. Logan that a day be set aside for decorating the graves of soldiers who had fallen fighting in the Civil War. General Logan declared May 30 to be a time to decorate the graves of those who died in the Civil War. After WWI, it was designated as the time to decorate the graves of all those who died in battle. This is especially done at the tomb of the Unknown Soldier. The total who died in American military service, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs, is more than 1.1 million. Here are the numbers of those who have died in war.
American Revolution battle deaths.4,435
War of 1812. 2,260
Indian Wars.1,000
Mexican War.1,733
Civil War.140,414
Spanish-American War.385
World War I.53,402
World War II.291,557
Korean War.33,741
Vietnam War.47,424
Gulf War.147
Global War on Terror.6,943 as of 2021.
All those who serve in the military are prepared to give their lives for our country. They are the armor and the heart of our nation. We think of the soldiers, sailors, Marines, fliers, and nurses, mostly young, who should have had long lives to live and much to live for, who answered the call to the service of their country. Most of them were boys when they died, and they gave up two lives—the one they were living and the one they would have lived. When they died, they gave up their chance to be husbands and fathers and grandfathers. They gave up their chance to be revered old men. They gave up everything for our country, for us. The battlefield is a long way from Middle America. Millions of Americans, young and in their prime, traveled from family, school, ballpark, shop, office and all their favorite friends and haunts to face the unknown in ships, planes, submarines, tanks, and jeeps and on foot in far-away places with strange names. Legions of them stayed. With their lives, they paid for our freedom. Memorial weekend has become a day of family gatherings in which we sense and savor the wonder of life. We should honor them not only through memorials, flags at half-staff, parades, and ceremonies, but by remembering the purpose of their sacrifice — to protect and defend our freedom.
A nation that does not honor its war dead has no soul, even if the soldiers did not fight for honorable causes or lost a war. It is the right thing to do. Soldiers do not make state policy. They are the young people who carry it out. Behind each name we read of the local fallen in war is a story of life, hopes, dreams and loved ones cut short by a bayonet, bullet, or bomb. They were good citizens doing what they saw as their duty and willingly paying the highest price for doing so. They deserve to be remembered and honored, even if only for one day out of the year. And all we can do is remember. Some people remember every day, as they remember one who has died. It is not so hard to summon memory, but it is hard to recapture meaning.
This is a day of powerful memories: battles from Bunker Hill to Afghanistan, from 1776 to this decade. We remember the noise and hell of war, the wildness and destruction, the loss of sons, fathers, husbands, daughters, and sweethearts who never came back home. Always, there are those who never come back. When peace arrives, it is a sadder for their absence.
While we are not all called to serve our country through serving in the armed forces or in the political arena, we all can better our country through the way we live our lives.
Here are headstones of those who served in the decade between Korea and Vietnam. More than 12 million young Americans donned military uniforms in what was called "the cold war." It was only cold for those who did not have to fight in it. They served on land, air and sea in lonely outposts, dusty camps, along barbed wire barriers in foreign lands, on guard against those who would have done us harm if they had the chance.
Between 1964 and 1975, more than 7 million young Americans were committed to the bloody contest in Southeast Asia. The names of 58,267 who died from that fight are on the wall of the Vietnam War Memorial. Headstones in cemeteries across this land testify to more of their selfless sacrifice -- and serve as a reminder that the victory denied in that war should never happen again.
In the three-and-a-half decades since Vietnam, not a single year has passed without Americans in uniform being committed to hostile action somewhere around the globe -- including Grenada, Beirut, Panama, the Balkans, and Kuwait. We are not a warlike people. But for more than two centuries, ours has been the only nation on earth willing to consistently send its sons and daughters into harm's way -- not for gold or oil or colonial conquest, but to offer others the hope of liberty.
Since Sept. 11, that great legacy has been borne by volunteers serving in the shadows of the Hindu Kush, along the banks of the Tigris and Euphrates, in the Persian Gulf and on anti-piracy patrols in the Indian Ocean. These young Americans are engaged against a merciless enemy who has proven repeatedly that there is no atrocity beneath them -- and that they will do whatever it takes to kill as many of our countrymen as possible.
Why is our nation worthy of sacrifice? How can we ensure that our nation remains worthy? How can we, as American people, remain worthy of the ultimate sacrifice? Men and women brave enough to serve in our armed services answer the first question. The citizens of this country answer the second question. The third question is for each of us to ask ourselves. Are you living a life worth a soldier’s ultimate sacrifice?
I invite you on Memorial Day, spend a moment remembering the military men and women who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our safety and freedom.
After Memorial Day is over and you go back to work, dedicate yourself to making their sacrifice worthwhile. Take an interest and get involved in what it means to be an American. Help others understand the importance being an American and living out the American dream. We have life and liberty and must guard them both, but we are only provided the opportunity to pursue happiness, not happiness itself. Whether or not you achieve happiness is up to you, and not the responsibility of our government. To quote President John F. Kennedy, “Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.”
Once we are all gone, what will our legacy be? A nation that is freer, and more prosperous because of our work and our effort? Or a nation that is faltering due to government efforts to make people happy rather than simply providing us with the liberty to pursue our happiness?
While you might be tempted to leave politics to others, that would be a dangerous tactic. As Pericles said, “just because you do not take an interest in politics doesn't mean politics won't take an interest in you.”
To conclude this brief reflection, I offer a reflection on memorials.
The past is never dead. It's not even past. --William Faulkner.
Human beings like to remember things ... special things. And they do so in remarkably creative ways. Americans are no different. Just think of the memorials in Washington, D.C. alone! Former presidents Jefferson, Lincoln, Roosevelt, and Washington are remembered by monuments, statues, and obelisks. Wars and the soldiers who died in them are remembered -- World War II, Korea, and Vietnam. Elsewhere in the country, tragic events are memorialized, like Pearl Harbor, the Oklahoma City bombing and 9/11. We have built these memorials so that we never forget.
Perhaps your city has a statue or monument that recalls people who died, the event in which they died or some catastrophe.
In addition to building things, we also set aside certain days to remember someone who meant a lot to our collective experience as Americans -- presidents Lincoln and Washington, for example, in February, and Martin Luther King Jr. in January. In July we set aside one day to celebrate our independence. In November, we remember our veterans.
And so, we come to Memorial Day, a day to remember.
The meaning of past events cannot be quite the same for us as for those who lived through them. So, our job is not to force our kids to bow at our memorials, but to do what we can to help them understand why they have meaning for us! We can help them see our piles of stones, both literal and figurative ones, as, if not memorials, at least milestones on the journey of humankind. In other words, every time we build a memorial, intentionally or otherwise, we can think of what it will mean both for the current generation and for the subsequent ones.
They will be different things, but secondary meanings can be valid as well.
Here, for example, are some things that a memorial can do, first for the generation that was there and then for those that come later:
+ A memorial can celebrate heroic or happy events and can mourn tragic ones. In Joshua 4:1-7, Israel’s 12 stones testified to the current generation that God helped and guided them. As a milestone to the next generation, it witnesses that people earlier were helped, and gives those who were not there a basis for concluding that they, too, can be helped by God.
+ A memorial can remind those who lived through the event of the terrible cost of war. As a milestone, it can cause subsequent generations to do all that is possible to avoid bloodshed.
+ A memorial can promote healing for the people who were there or had loved ones there. Think, for example, about the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and the Oklahoma City National Memorial. As milestones, they teach that people can deal with emotional pain and continue to live.
+ A memorial can help the immediate generation realize that something significant happened that called for courage and sacrifice. As a milestone, it can communicate that each age has significant things that call for courage and sacrifice.
Monument builders do not have the power to force others to honor the monuments themselves, but they can do their best to help them understand the milestone implications.
On a personal level, we want our children to see and understand what is important and valuable to us. We hope some of those things, including faith in God, will become of even greater value to them. But we do not want them bound or limited by our understandings and conclusions. We want what we have valued to inform them so they can go further, climb higher, reach better.
So, if we are in the monument-building generations, we ought to be less concerned that our monuments speak to the younger generations than that they understand why they speak to us. In time, they will build their own monuments. But if we have been faithful in living up to the best our monuments represent, ours may serve as building blocks for theirs.
And if you are in the generations coming on, do not be too quick to dismiss what may seem to be stuck-in-the-mud ways of doing things in the generations ahead of you. There are some values behind those things that in time, you are going to want to know about.
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