I don’t have a special message for Memorial Day. I never do.
In fact, looking back through the archives for previous years’ messages, I see I don’t have any.
Maybe I deleted them to save space on the server. Perhaps I deleted something in an effort to avoid courting controversy. Or maybe there never were any to begin with.
I seriously don’t remember.
You see, I don’t have a military background or come from a true military family. Not really.
This, in spite of the fact that my father and his father were both Marines. Simply stated, they never saw any action, and did their time without much to tell. No battles, no horrendous deployments. Just did their time and that was it. Like jail.
The only relative I had who went through some level of combat was my mother’s late brother, my Uncle Ray. He was a World War II vet who fought in Europe. The lone story I got from him was how he surprised an enemy combatant in a latrine, which he described as “killing a Commie taking a crap.”
Not exactly a ringing endorsement of the greatest generation.
So whether you spend Memorial Day in thrall to American exceptionalism or ashamed of our country’s foreign adventures—or, like me, somewhere between—here’s hoping your Memorial Day is as peaceful as it can possibly be.
