214 “Memorial Day – 2015”

IN DEFENSE OF COMMON SENSE
By Hetty Gray

# 214

May 25, 2015

“Memorial Day – 2015”

No American holiday is more important and less featured in our schools than Memorial Day. Not only do young children lack an understanding of its importance, but they also are limited to agenda-driven history in their textbooks. Why publishers and editors seek to dismantle history is an anathema to me. What’s more, it is very dangerous.

History is the best teacher. Its events provide critical benchmarks; “red flags” if you will, to warn us of what might come if we make decisions that mirror those among similar circumstances.

If you do not believe me, take the time to find a current textbook and compare it to one published in the 1950s. My husband and I have done it, and the comparison is startling. The glaring lapses should upset anyone who values patriotism and the value of history to a solid education.

Patriotism is a value learned and nurtured early in life. Those members whose ages span their 80s and 90s taught citizenship for my generation. Moreover, they exemplified it. They lived it. Our schools were busy with Poppy Day when we made posters featuring soldiers and sailors. We were taught how important they were and we revered them from an early age.

Our songbooks were full of the service hymns. To this day, I can do a pretty good job with the lyrics of the songs of the Army, Air Force, and Navy. We marched and sang carrying American flags. When was the last time you saw children doing that?

Yet, I worry that ours may have been the last generation to really learn about the sacrifices of those who served or supported the military of the United States. Clearly each military man or woman earned our highest respect. Many witnessed close friends die under the worst circumstances possible, yet few freely discussed their experiences.

I think that may be because pain endured in battle imbeds so deeply in the psyche that those who suffer inner scars are most reluctant to speak about them — even with spouses or children. I know from speaking with World War II families that few of their men or women came home and talked about what happened during that conflict. There was an unspoken understanding that there were some things you just did not ask. Those who returned were happy to have survived and their families knew that.

Today, as many of us travel to military cemeteries, place flags on headstones in community cemeteries, or attend public gatherings to honor our servicemen and women, we will take a moment to reflect on true sacrifice.

The seminal question, however, is what can each of us do to teach our children the critical importance of our military? Clearly, not everyone is cut out to serve, but those who do share a bond far different from the one shared among friends and coworkers.

I make it a point to thank every person I see wearing a military cap denoting service. A chance encounter might be in a retail store, at a restaurant, or simply passing on the street, but it does spark a reaction. To a person, the gesture inspires a smile and that little glint in the eye that is unmistakable. Someone cares. Do you? Remember, were it not for them, none of us could live or worship freely. Think about it.

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