“Red Stripes” by Terry Kruger
The Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) stated in a 2002 Memorial Day Address, that:
“Changing the date [Memorial Day is celebrated] merely to create three-day weekends has undermined the very meaning of the day. No doubt, this has contributed a lot to the general public’s nonchalant observance of Memorial Day.” Hawaii Senator Daniel Inouye, a World War II veteran, has repeatedly introduced measures to return Memorial Day to its traditional day of May 30th, since 1987.”
Perhaps our most recent involvement in a war of choice and it’s resulting fall-out both socially and financially will challenge the “nonchalant observance” of Memorial Day this year. The truth is, those families who have lost fathers, mothers, sons and daughters, brothers and sisters— family— to the insanity of war need no special day to remember their lost loved one(s), for theirs is a daily remembrance, and often a daily heartache that can never be characterized as “nonchalant.”
The grateful war dead themselves have moved on of course, to a higher estate, as sleeping survivors, or souls resurrected on the third day, in the manner Jesus demonstrated on Easter Sunday. We do not know if those who are resurrected are able to follow our doings, our current wars; but we can be sure they are no longer victims of the tragedy of the war that cut their mortal lives short, and that they are advancing in a universe of love and unending life. They are living in a progressive universe dedicated to the higher values of spirit existence and the divine values of truth, beauty, and goodness.
As we reflect on these “lost” loved ones, let us realize that we are the ones who remain in jeopardy from the hatred and animosity among so many nations and peoples on this backward little world of ours. This Memorial Day, may we be more determined than ever to find the ways and means to live in peace, harmony, and love with our fellow men, women, and children of all the nations on this planet.
