Memorial Day 2020: Remembering The Enlightenment
Memorial Day is traditionally a holiday to remember those who’ve faced the ultimate sacrifice – and died fighting for our freedoms, of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Those brave men and women who fought in countless conflicts. When I look at our nation now, I see a greedy, money-driven society, with a lack of empathy. Most of our electorate is dedicated to oligarchism and thrusting the wealthiest even further up the totem pole. While they maintain absolute power, conspiracies run rampant among their supporters. Do we want our soldiers to fight for an unfair society where the American Dream of upward mobility is nullified?
My Family’s Military Service
My paternal grandfather, “Poppy”, served in England, France, Germany, and possibly Belgium, during World War II. He was in the Army Corps of Engineers and provided support with building the air fields after D-Day. My parents told me he was a cook, but clearly, there’s more to that story. As a Jewish American, he had an enduring connection to the war and a strong motive to defeat the Nazis. In my youth, he never talked about the war and I never asked about the war. He spent some of the fondest days in my memory, planting tomatoes, and tending the garden. He would sit out on the front porch and smoke cigars. I would hide under the tall evergreen tree adjacent to my grandparents’ home in Bel Air, MD. After putting out his cigar, he would spend much of the day completing crossword puzzles in what I remember to be the New York Times. I wish I had figured out the questions to ask. After he died in 2011, he left behind some antique British, French, German, Algerian, and Moroccan coins from the war and that’s all I know about his service.
On my mother’s side, my grandfather, Roy, was not eligible for the draft during the second world war due to a vision impairment. My great uncle, Lamar, Roy’s brother, fought in D-Day and received a Purple Heart medal. I’ve often wondered what that would feel like and the thoughts rushing through those brave minds, storming the beaches, with their comrades dying all around, and a strong sensation of death in the air. I never met my great uncle. He survived the war, but killed himself many years before I was born. I’ll never know for sure, but his death was likely related to the trauma he experienced during the war and subsequently, chronic pain. He selflessly gave his life for our freedom, but with the stigma of mental health, it’s unclear if he ever received the treatment he deserved.
What exactly have these brave souls fought for?
We The People used to mean something when we lived in a democracy. Now, it’s printed on conservative propaganda-gear and para-military equipment. Representative democracy has been replaced with conspiracy theories, corporate handouts, and welfare for those with an ungodly sum of wealth. Our democracy has been bought by billionaires since Reaganism took hold in the 1980s. Crony capitalism was adopted during the Bush years, but even after 9/11, we were able to come together as a country, and mourn for the few thousand dead. Unsurprisingly, with corporate criminals in charge, this attack led us into the unsanctioned Afghanistan and Iraq wars. These conflicts were a defining moment of my adolescence. They were the most major failures in this country since the United States declared war on Vietnam. It’s been almost 20 years, and there has been little resolution in the countries we selfishly attacked.
A Pathetic Pandemic Response
My deceased relatives fought and served valiantly for their country, for what a nation saw, as “The Greater Good”. When will we return to this notion of a united society rather than the selfishness we see throughout this bastardly COVID-19 response? Americans have the audacity to claim they’re being oppressed and recite poorly structured conspiracies in attempt to discredit medical consensus. They choose not to wear the mask and throw tantrums, claiming disability, when they’re not allowed to shop in stores. With a deadly virus on the rampage, it is literally the worst time to disobey orders. Imagine if our soldiers just decided to stop wearing their helmets storming the beaches of Normandy. Imagine they had decided their commanding officer was one of those liberal intellectuals and deserted.
As I write this, President Trump claims victory of the coronavirus. “HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY!” As Trump golfs an 18-hole course, he likely adds another tweet, “A tremendous response. The BEST testing. HUGE success!” Imagine if President Lincoln had merely shouted, “HAPPY GETTYSBURG!” As I write this article, the deaths unrelated to war approach 100,000. We The People was supposed to mean the collective understanding of liberty, the greater good, and necessary sacrifices. As we mourn the deaths of our brave veterans on Memorial Day, we as a nation, need to look inwards, and consider what we’re really fighting for. Please don’t let their deaths be in vain. VOTE!
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