Memorial Day

May 28, 2018

Their ranks are thinning. Even in small villages, Memorial Day parades used to involve hundreds of marchers, along with the requisite fire trucks, Scouts, community organizations, and an assortment of little boys on bicycles festooned with flags. The two  World Wars and the Korean Conflict produced a generation of patriotism, spurred on by the many veterans who by reason of the draft, served their time and came home to build a nation. 

Vietnam changed all that as we slowly came to realize that we didn’t really have any strategic objectives there, and that our leaders were lying to us. The ordinary soldier served as bravely and well as any before, but came home to a society ashamed. The volunteer army now produces quality men and women, but there are fewer of them, they serve longer and repeated tours of duty, and like most soldiers, want to put what they’ve experienced on the battlefield behind them. 

The parade didn’t take long, but the crowd gathered at the cemetery for the service numbered at least a hundred fifty; not bad for a small village. We listened to speeches, heard the roll call of wars, prayed for peace. 

In the afternoon, like millions across our land, we gathered with family and friends for a picnic, swapping stories while the kids played games and splashed in the pool. It was a good day, provided courtesy of those who will never observe another Memorial Day themselves. Most of us have no real concept of what it means to have someone give their life for another. Christians should understand better than most; vicarious sacrifice is the centerpiece of our faith. It is also the centerpiece of Memorial Day, and we give thanks today for those who have done so, even as we give thanks for the One who did this on a Cross so many years ago.