The Unsung Heroes & Sheroes of Memorial Day

Today, I want to take time out to simply thank those who’ve made Memorial Day possible. To my father who served in Vietnam, other living Veterans, and those whose graves adorn Western Europe, I sincerely thank you for your service; you have brought freedom and the benisons of Democracy to many across this globe. You have served a country which, if and when she falls, God forbids, her enemies will weep, if not out in the open in secret. This is so because the country you’ve represented has been rather lenient and noble with its hegemony-notwithstanding the modern day ungratefulness in vogue today across Europe—who’ve quickly and conveniently forgotten when Hitler’s Nazis were Goose-stepping across Europe and the sacrifices you paid on the beaches of Normandy where over forty thousands of you made the ultimate sacrifice.

The bond among soldiers is difficult to fathom to wives, parents, and generally those who did not serve. It transcends race, religion, and all the isms which keep us apart in civilian life. During the first Iraqi war, I was placed on standby down at Fort Ord in California. I remembered how somber it was when we were signing the insurance paper work, designating our respective beneficiaries, if we were to fall in battle. But there was one other aspect that was even more sobering for me: contemplating being a casualty of chemical weapons. I recalled telling my buddy, Scot Nelson that if I were hit with chemical weapons and lived, and he had been lucky to have donned his chemical gear, to put me out of my misery because I couldn’t take my own life due to religious reasons. Scot didn’t verbally reply, but I saw it in his eyes that if it came to it, he would have mercifully euthanized me.

In closing, I also ask forgiveness of you Memorial Day heroes for those us who’ve callously allocated the status of “hero” or “shero” to the likes of athletes and even more grating, actors. We have equated throwing a ball in a hoop or knocking it over a barrier to that of your dying for the potential of Democracy…throwing yourself on grenades …for your standing in the gap for children threatened by their own people, sacrificing your food, water, and lives. And I especially ask for your forgiveness for attributing hero status to most of the Hollywood types who traverse the jagged walk of shame, boasting and peddling their stories...I say to all of you Memorial Day heroes, an apt quote from part of Shakespeare’s Macbeth is warranted for the war stories told by the Hollywood vanity crowd: “…It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.”

-Verily Prime