Please, Oh Please, Lakewood...Remember...
Posted: Thu May 21, 2015 7:16 am
Decoration Day...
Traditionally and for many families...it was on May 30th, when the wildflowers are at their peak, and the poppies bloom...
Since 1968, its been an official government holiday. Because of a uniform holiday law, it officially became "Memorial Day" and was moved to the last Monday in May (this year, the 25th) to make another three day weekend; a move still not universally accepted by many people.
The government can't tell us when to grieve. Those of us dealing with loss, particularly of a veteran, will grieve any day we want to, thank you. Don't give me any of that "celebration of life" stuff before I'm ready to do so either. Grief is grief.
Memorial Day is officially a day when we remember our men and women in uniform who perished while in the service of their country, but I suppose that there are gray areas too....
Like my dad, 94 year-old Robert R. Rice: Lost to me this past January 14th. A WWII disabled-while-serving DAV American veteran. Did his disabilities finally contribute to his passing? Well, I can tell you that they certainly contributed to a lifetime of challenge and suffering for him, but he never once complained.
"Gary", (and I'm probably paraphrasing between the tears here) "My oath of enlistment has no expiration date. We were glad to be able to serve our county to help keep this world free. Our individual problems are a small price to pay for there being a better world today."
He was a Lakewood teacher. He loved Lakewood. He never considered whether the children entering his classroom might be conservatives, liberals, rich, poor, or any of a myriad of categories in the currently popular parade of hyphenated and categorized Americans that we seem to presently celebrate instead of the "melting pot" theory of American development. The kids coming into his band room were AMERICAN kids, and that was that. Dad would roam the halls of old Harding, sticking a horn into the hands of any kid who could hold one up to play. He spent hours before and after school teaching those kids, and before they realized what was happening, they were musicians!
So with all of the garbage that goes on these days, and with all of the gloom and doom nay-saying going on in the world, (and even in our community) nowadays, can we just take a minute or two this weekend to remember those veterans who lie under the earth- who tried to make a better world for all of us? Can we just take a moment to forget what divides us, and remember what unites us as Americans?
Oh yeah, I can hear the critics and the flaming starting now...Some well-meaning person is probably thinking "Well, Memorial Day is just another glorification of war, using our fallen soldiers to perpetuate that glory." I can hear others too who would want to perpetuate the typical smart-mouth internet commentary process, for any of a dozen superficial reasons...
...and while their thoughtful opinions and free speech must be recognized, I just go back to Dad's grave, and grieve....
Because of men and women who served in uniform like him...free speech still exists.
Please oh please, Lakewood...Remember...
and then, and only then...
Yes. Celebrate their lives.
I heard that there were over three thousand veterans buried in Lakewood Park Cemetery alone, and there are many more out at Sunset, where Dad lies. All over the world there are United States military graveyards, and those are the ONLY plots of land outside our national borders that we perpetually claim.
All just my opinions and I may be wrong, but thanks to Dad and all veterans, I can still express them.
Back to the banjo...
Traditionally and for many families...it was on May 30th, when the wildflowers are at their peak, and the poppies bloom...
Since 1968, its been an official government holiday. Because of a uniform holiday law, it officially became "Memorial Day" and was moved to the last Monday in May (this year, the 25th) to make another three day weekend; a move still not universally accepted by many people.
The government can't tell us when to grieve. Those of us dealing with loss, particularly of a veteran, will grieve any day we want to, thank you. Don't give me any of that "celebration of life" stuff before I'm ready to do so either. Grief is grief.
Memorial Day is officially a day when we remember our men and women in uniform who perished while in the service of their country, but I suppose that there are gray areas too....
Like my dad, 94 year-old Robert R. Rice: Lost to me this past January 14th. A WWII disabled-while-serving DAV American veteran. Did his disabilities finally contribute to his passing? Well, I can tell you that they certainly contributed to a lifetime of challenge and suffering for him, but he never once complained.
"Gary", (and I'm probably paraphrasing between the tears here) "My oath of enlistment has no expiration date. We were glad to be able to serve our county to help keep this world free. Our individual problems are a small price to pay for there being a better world today."
He was a Lakewood teacher. He loved Lakewood. He never considered whether the children entering his classroom might be conservatives, liberals, rich, poor, or any of a myriad of categories in the currently popular parade of hyphenated and categorized Americans that we seem to presently celebrate instead of the "melting pot" theory of American development. The kids coming into his band room were AMERICAN kids, and that was that. Dad would roam the halls of old Harding, sticking a horn into the hands of any kid who could hold one up to play. He spent hours before and after school teaching those kids, and before they realized what was happening, they were musicians!
So with all of the garbage that goes on these days, and with all of the gloom and doom nay-saying going on in the world, (and even in our community) nowadays, can we just take a minute or two this weekend to remember those veterans who lie under the earth- who tried to make a better world for all of us? Can we just take a moment to forget what divides us, and remember what unites us as Americans?
Oh yeah, I can hear the critics and the flaming starting now...Some well-meaning person is probably thinking "Well, Memorial Day is just another glorification of war, using our fallen soldiers to perpetuate that glory." I can hear others too who would want to perpetuate the typical smart-mouth internet commentary process, for any of a dozen superficial reasons...
...and while their thoughtful opinions and free speech must be recognized, I just go back to Dad's grave, and grieve....
Because of men and women who served in uniform like him...free speech still exists.
Please oh please, Lakewood...Remember...
and then, and only then...
Yes. Celebrate their lives.
I heard that there were over three thousand veterans buried in Lakewood Park Cemetery alone, and there are many more out at Sunset, where Dad lies. All over the world there are United States military graveyards, and those are the ONLY plots of land outside our national borders that we perpetually claim.
All just my opinions and I may be wrong, but thanks to Dad and all veterans, I can still express them.
Back to the banjo...