So, while the cookouts are happening all over America today and hopefully everyone is having fun, please take a minute to reflect how you are able to carry on so free and easy. Recall that Memorial Day is critical to celebrate our freedom.
Simple. Men and women fought and died to protect our freedoms. Memorial Day honors those who have fought and died, given their lives so that we may live free. War has been with us since the dawn of time. Mostly, going to war has been a political strategy, designed to give more power to someone who already has it. Sometimes, bad guys force the hand and good guys must put on uniforms, get some weapons, and defend their honor or maybe defend the honor of someone who doesn’t have enough uniforms or weapons to do this themselves.
The origins of any war cover terms like greed, evil ways, lust for power, stupidity, hatred and all those other negative terms. Wars come about because the good guys don’t want the bad guys to win. That’s really the black and white of it. Yet, we all know nothing is that simple. The bad guys generally stay bad, but the good guys turn out to be not so good at times.
The Civil War wasn’t just about slavery, although that was certainly a big motivator. Hitler was definitely a bad guy who wanted to be the leader of the world. Then there were all those battles to keep communism from spreading, which was much ado about nothing. The battle for ideological victory was a matter of perspective and mankind has always had trouble sitting down at a table for a meal and a discussion to straighten things out.
Completely aside from all of this talk of why we have wars are the men and women who followed the leaders and did the actual fighting. They sacrifice their security to defend the security of others. They give up time with their families and home life and go off to kill the enemy so that others are not threatened, so that others can have the freedoms they gave up.
I disagree with the concept of war. I don’t think anyone should be put through the horrors of war when communication and compromise can solve disagreements. Sounds quite a bit naive, doesn’t it? Sure, it does. We’ll never get there in this lifetime, but we should always nudge things in that direction.
Beyond that, I am completely in awe and have the highest respect for those who separate themselves from their wives, children and all they worked hard to get and put their lives on the line so that many more besides themselves can enjoy freedom. Many have never returned. Think a bit about that self-sacrifice. You don’t have to think so much about what the cause was, just the total sacrifice given.
Having a cookout with family and friends on this most special of holidays, Memorial Day, is a good thing. We celebrate our freedoms and honor those who sacrificed much more than a flipped burger. I still hate war. But I’m honored and humbled to say thank you to all those who fought for my right to say that.
Happy Memorial Day.
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