EDITORIAL: Why mark Memorial Day? (05/28/00)

EDITORIAL

Why mark Memorial Day?

The question above was answered most eloquently by Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. back on May 30, 1884, two years after what was once known as Decoration Day in honor of the Civil War dead became known as Memorial Day observed in honor of all soldiers who paid the supreme sacrifice. The eminent U.S. Supreme Court justice (who at the time was a justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court) delivered a speech titled "In Our Youth Our Hearts Were Touched With Fire ..." in which he explained that Memorial Day "celebrates and solemnly reaffirms from year to year a national act of enthusiasm and faith. It embodies in the most impressive form our belief that to act with enthusiasm and faith is the condition of acting greatly."

"To fight out a war, you must believe something and want something with all your might," Justice Holmes stated. "So must you do to carry anything else to an end worth reaching. More than that, you must be willing to commit yourself to a course, perhaps a long and hard one, without being able to foresee exactly where you will come out. All that is required of you is that you should go somewhither as hard as ever you can. The rest belongs to fate. ..."

On the occasion of this year's observance of Memorial Day, Bishop David B. Brown, national chaplain of the 2.8-million member American Legion, the nation's largest veterans' organization, states: "More than 1 million men and women have lost their lives fighting for freedom in the U.S. armed forces. We can never reimburse the price they paid. We can summon no words to allay the pain of their loved ones."

In a commentary released on the occasion of this national day of remembrance, Bishop Brown cites three pledges on Memorial Day that Americans, as beneficiaries of their departed heroes, should make to ensure that the sacrifice of this nation's war dead - among them countless Ukrainian Americans - are not in vain.

"The first pledge we should make is to fly the U.S. flag and to participate in our community's commemorative events. America's patriots shed their blood in defense of our nation's core values of freedom, justice and equality, as well as the U.S. flag that symbolizes our values. Memorial Day should unify all Americans in solemn tribute to those who did not come marching home and to consecrate the principles for which they fought.

"The second pledge we should make is to teach our children and grandchildren that the freedoms they may take for granted were purchased by incredible sacrifice. When we lead by example, by bringing our children and grandchildren with us to Memorial Day public observances, we teach the leaders of tomorrow that freedom is not free.

"The third pledge is to participate in our democracy in order to give patriots-present the best opportunity to triumph against evil. Today's troops form the light of hope that pierces the darkness of tyranny, but that light is growing dim due to inadequate military spending and foolhardy defense policy. ..."

"We can, and we should, honor America's war dead on Memorial Day," asserts the American Legion's chaplain. "More than 1 million men and women ... sacrificed all of their tomorrows while fighting for America's unifying virtues. Surely we can honor their sacrifice, transmit the values for which they fought, and preserve the common defense that is liberty's backbone. By our vigilance, the sacrifices of America's departed heroes shall never be in vain."

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