May 29, 2006
IN MEMORIAM
Today is Memorial Day, the unofficial beginning of summer. Trips to the beach, barbecues, and having a good time are the popular order of the day. Don't forget the real purpose of today, however. During yesterday's Yankees game, announcer Bob Sheppard requested the entire stadium crowd to stand at exactly 3p.m. and observe a moment of silence honoring all the people who'd died defending the U.S. in times of war. It was coordinated across the nation.
Fleet Week has inundated NYC with Navy and Marine personnel over the past few days and I've met and talked with some absolutely impressive people. Unlike Veterans Day, when we honor people who have served in the military, Memorial Day is when we commemorate people, like the ones that I met, who didn't survive their services and that's why I find a somber and imminently heartbreaking component to this weekend. Who won't return next year?
NYC is extreme "blue state" territory and I heard about and witnessed a few scattered incidents of hostility to service members, but by and large New Yorkers love their military men and women. Whenever I saw a group of men and women in uniform walked down an avenue in uniform or traversed sidewalks, I saw lots of people shouting thanks and encouragement. Handshakes abounded. Maybe we are all Americans after all.
While you're enjoying your three-day weekend, please take a second to remember all the people who never got to afford such luxurious pleasures afforded at the cost of their own lives. We owe them everything. You owe them something: your thanks and remembrance.
Tagged:Posted by Lexiphane at May 29, 2006 11:14 AM
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