Memorial Day......

As the memorial weekend is over I still want to pause a minute and talk about my thoughts about the day. I have always understood the meaning behind it and I also see the confusion that takes place when the new generations think that it is purely a day to decorate graves. It is good that we have a time to rethink our past and know from where we have come. We never could have understood the hate behind 9/11 but our people have so easily forgotten the thousands of innocent lives that were lost. We can not become sheep and not remember that we need to always be defensive in action to prevent such things. We as a country have faced many wars. We have lost many lives because of so many different misunderstandings.
When two different countries decided to take over the power of the world, many people died. Many died before the world even took notice and many more died to stop it.
My dad was drafted into the army to help the United States to face the effort to stop Germany and Japan during WW11. He was young with a wife and two boys. By the time he ended his service he was put in harms way at the Battle of the Bulge. Many men died in that final part of the war. Actually only 35,000 men died in that effort compared to the total of 400,000 American men and women who died in the entire war. The irony of it all is that most did not volunteer to do this effort, but were drafted and directed to obey their country's wishes. In a way a time for memorial is for those who obey their country's orders in order to help in a large effort to stop a tide of hate. We tend to see it happening over and over again in our life time.
As my father returned from the war, he was very emotionally affected by its cause. He had carried a radio for the scouts that preceded the front lines. He had been in great danger most of the time and had seen more horror than a country farm boy would ever expect. The effects were life long for him and he revisited the war in his conversations continually. He never got it all talked out throught his life, as he was still remembering another nightmare on his way to the hospital for his last time. He never knew that the World War 11 Memorial was to be built. He never knew that there were actually elected senators that didn't want it built nor did they want it placed where it was built. He never saw the Iowa monument which is a part of the 50 states exhibited around the memorial.
His scars inside were many and it affected him with fears most of his life. His sisters told me at the funeral that he was never the same person when he returned from the war. He was the war victim person that I knew as dad and never knew any difference. He was a very kind man and loved his family. He did the best he could and maintained life the best that he could. With a fishing pole in one had and a cigar in the other he made that his heaven on earth. Always in bib overalls and he would never know a stranger.
So as memorial day has passed, I am glad the we get a chance to visit the cemeteries and visit all of our loved ones that we have lost. It is a good thing. It also is a good thing to remember that Memorial day is a time to reflect and remember all of those that have served and those who had lost their lives. I miss my dad a lot and have so many unanswered questions for him now. I am proud to show him in uniform, that would have made him happy. He was proud that he had been involved and hoped that someone out there understood. If anyone listened to his story, he was comforted. If he only could have known how many people really cared.
Thanks for reading...