Each Memorial Day I usually write a post that turns into a rant about how I wish our society would appreciate those that protect our freedoms more than just once or twice a year when it falls on a Holiday.
I don’t want to do that this year, I will look at it from another angle and see if I can make sense of it. If I open up my eyes, I can see the dilemma.
On one side, you have people like me who spent some time in the Military and fully realize what sacrifices those that are serving currently are making every day. It sometimes doesn’t make sense to us how people really don’t understand what these men and women are doing to protect our rights and freedoms. They truly don’t understand and have no comprehension of these things because they haven’t ever served or know anyone that served. Doesn’t make them any better or any worse, just makes the view look a little different without that knowledge. They don’t know any different, so why shouldn’t they go out and enjoy the 3-day weekend? They absolutely should. That’s why so many brave men and women have lost their lives defending this very right. The only thing that I ask is that you take a moment and educate your kids on what the heroes who sacrificed their lives were all about. Show them pictures of Arlington National Cemetery, not to make them cry and be sad, but to show them how lucky we are to live in this Country. To show them what this weekend is really all about. Instead of letting our kids be jaded by one-sided news stories about what Kim Kardashian is wearing. Let’s educate them on more important topics. I think Memorial Day would be a pretty good start.
The flip side of the coin is all those that have lost a loved one defending our freedom. To them, Memorial Day can be a painful reminder of how much they are missed. I think many of them would probably like the 1,000s of posts like mine, reminding people what Memorial Day is all about, to go away as it is just a painful echo that is felt every time they turn on the TV or open their computer. However, I think it’s important that the lives of these heroes touch as many generations as possible. It doesn’t matter if it was a Marine at the Battle of the Bulge or a Sailor in Iraq, no matter the time, the canvas doesn’t change, they died doing the most unselfish act of heroism possible. Their stories need to be told over and over again so that this generation of kids understands that there is more to life than facebook and that snapchat garbage that my girls will never touch.