I don't know if this is germane for a diary, but I had some thoughts on Memorial Day, and wanted to get them down and in some kind of public forum.
Every year when I happen to be at my parents' home on what was once known as Decoration Day, I walk down to Pinhook Cemetery, where most of my relatives are buried and where in all likelihood I too will rest someday, and just walk for a while. I see names that have always been just names, but I also see more and more names of people I remember. It is a sobering experience full of (to use the title of an old hymn) precious memories.
There are many veterans in Pinhook Cemetery, but no officers. Pinhook does not produce officers; Pinhook was and is a rural community, where the sort of life experience and opportunities that would have led to officer status simply aren't available.
These were the men (no women as of yet, but that will change someday) who left their farms, their jobs, and their families, and did what a nation asked of them. Some returned and lived long lives; others never returned. But they all rest now, on Pinhook Road, just a short distance from the home of my youth.
I reflected today on those who made the ultimate sacrifice, as well as those who were lucky enough to return to Pinhook. How did they adjust, after seeing horror and death in Yorktown, Chickamauga, Havana, Ypres, the beaches of Normandy, Iwo Jima, Heartbreak Ridge, Da Nang, Kuwait?
Someone from Pinhook (LCpl Brian Lane - lived, but not buried, at Pinhook, a good friend of my older brother) was killed in Gulf War I. Pinhook is not a big place; as of now, the population is really only about 19. Brian was killed, not unlike Pat Tillman, by friendly fire. This was a young man I knew; a quick smile, a ribald sense of humor, a good mid-range jump shot. I will not impugn his motivations nor belittle his sacrifice, but I have never forgiven the forces that put him in harm's way.
Now I see these same forces asking - nay, demanding - that other Brian Lanes be willing to sacrifice their lives. And for what? We were led into this war on lies, and those who have graciously offered to serve their nation are being slaughtered in the name of something that is less than noble, less than pure, less than American.
It is because of Brian Lane, and because of every veteran buried in Pinhook Cemetery, that I strive tirelessly to drive the current misAdministration from office. The men and women who put their lives on the line so we don't have to deserve to know that they will never be asked to make that sacrifice for any purpose other than the survival and defense of our country.
Our veterans deserve the thanks and praise of a grateful nation. They do not deserve to become pawns of neo-con global hegemony.
WF