As I woke this morning and reflected on Memorial Day and what it really means to me, I realized that I have very conflicting emotions surrounding the intention of the day. On the surface, Memorial Day is a day for honoring those brave men and women that defend our country from those that would destroy us and our way of life. That is on the surface. Internally, I feel much different about the day and what it stands for.
First of all, let me point out that I have many male relatives that served our country. My paternal grandfather served in the Army in WWI. One of my distant paternal ancestors that shows up on our family tree is the one and only “Give me liberty or give me death” Patrick Henry. My father-in-law served in the Army during WWII and was involved in the invasion of Normandy campaign. My brother-in-law served in the Navy with two tours in Vietnam on a PT boat in the Mekong Delta – he still does not talk about his experiences there. My husband served during peace time in the Navy. My brother served in the Navy and was on the ship that fired the first tomahawk missiles in the Iraq war – he retired two years ago. So, you see, my male family members are very much ensconced in serving our country.
Now, to get to what Memorial Day means to me. So many of our sons and daughters have lost their lives in current campaigns aimed at ending terrorism and for striking back at Al-Qaeda and those that killed so many on our own shores. I am saddened when I think of those in the World Trade Center that lost their lives senselessly over what – bullying? Because that is what terrorism is all about. We went to war in Iraq because we were sure there were weapons of mass destruction when we became the weapon ourselves. We went to war in Afghanistan because we believed that the entire country supported and protected Osama Bin Laden and his terrorist bullies. It wasn’t the entire country, but fundamentalists that believe their cause is just. We also believe that our cause is just.
We live in an era when on our own home soil fundamentalists and far right wing conservatives are passing laws taking away human rights while protecting the wealthy corporations. Those that cannot take care of themselves are the ones that are suffering. I see laws proposed and passed by the conservatives and Tea Party members that purport to be against big government, yet the very laws they want passed are the epitome of big government taking away basic human rights. The idealogy is that the few are served by the many – and all means necessary to fund wars that fulfill corporate profits are proposed and acted on while the poor, the unemployed, the elderly, the children, and the women in our country must go without. Isn’t that what we rail against when we, in our indignation, scream about human rights in the Middle East, Africa, China, and North Korea?
Don’t get me wrong – I have always been proud to be American and proud that my ancestral lines reach back to Patrick Henry. My maternal ancestral lines reach back to Quanah Parker, a Comanche chief, that fought to his dying breath those white Europeans that took his land, his mother, killed his father, and murdered his people in the name of religion and profit. Is not that what we rail against now with the Middle East, Africa, China, and North Korea?
So, today, as I remember those men and women that have fought for our liberties and our freedoms on foreign shores believing in a country that was founded on liberty and freedom – for all, I hold them dear and send a prayer for peace and understanding and a true end to terrorism and bullying – even from our own country. As I remember those that have died for a belief and for their people and their land – the American Indians, the African Americans, the Latinos, the Chinese Americans, the Japanese Americans, to name a few – I remember what they all have been fighting for. In my ancestor’s famous words, “Give me liberty or give me death.”
Dancing Naked 