Keep Memorial Day alive

Memorial Day is tomorrow. Pausing to honor its true meaning is a tradition worth preserving for posterity. Traditionally, Memorial Day has served to honor those brave men and women in uniform who died in the service of our nation. Sadly, time and circumstance have taken a heavy toll on this tradition. Lately, we seem to have lost sight of the true purpose and meaning of Memorial Day. Instead, it has been diluted, commercialized, and even trivialized ‘ into just another three-day weekend. Unwittingly or not, we dilute Memorial Day when we extend it beyond its traditional purpose and meaning to include a more generic remembrance of those who have passed on, regardless of the conditions of their demise. However well-intentioned these gestures may be, they do dilute the true tradition of Memorial Day. We need to keep Memorial Day focused on those who gave all for us. Even worse, we have crassly commercialized Memorial Day. With rare exception, merchants will use this hallowed day to hawk their wares-from hot dogs to Hummers. Newspapers, radio and television will reap the rewards of their multi-media hype, all in the pursuit of the all-mighty dollar, too. It’s all perfectly legal, of course, but to me, more than a little unseemly. The cumulative effect of the gradual dilution and commercialization of Memorial Day, it seems to me, is that a day intended to honor our fallen heroes, has now become tragically trivialized. A few years ago, I related the story of a high school teacher who asked her students what Memorial Day meant to them. Their reply? ‘That’s when the swimming pool opens!’ Their answer says a lot about how Memorial Day has succumbed to ignorance and apathy. Unfortunately, we live in a culture that honors splash over substance. Our ‘American Idols’ tend to be entertainers and sports personalities. Even the word ‘hero’ has become so bandied about that its intrinsic meaning is cheapened. Instead of honoring brave and noble deeds, all too often we worship celebrity, no matter how outrageously celebrities flaunt their fame and flout our laws. Despite growing ignorance and apathy regarding Memorial Day, we do need to remember that ‘freedom isn’t free.’ It has been won, protected and preserved by succeeding generations of brave Americans. From the Revolutionary War to the current war on terrorism, men and women in uniform have served and sacrificed so that we could continue to enjoy the blessings of liberty. Fortunately, a small band of men and women here in Warren County are laboring long and hard to keep the true tradition of Memorial Day alive and well locally. They are members of American Legion Post 173, VFW Post 5064, and their respective auxiliaries. Their joint Memorial Day Service will be tomorrow morning, beginning at 7 a.m. at the Warren County Memorial Airport. The keynote speaker will be McMinnville Mayor Royce Davenport, a fellow Vietnam War veteran. I urge you to help us continue this local tradition by showing up in force tomorrow morning to demonstrate your support for Memorial Day ‘ a tradition worth preserving. Retired Army Col. Thomas B. Vaughn can be reached at [email protected].