Memorial Day.
For many years, I didn't give much thought to the differences between Memorial Day and Veteran's Day. Based on the media coverage of the holiday and the celebrations in Washington last night, it seems I'm not alone. I suppose that it is easier to confuse the two than one might imagine.
Both days are a day to pay tribute to those that have gone before us, especially our shipmates, and that's a good thing. Both days we recognize that service to our country, and the attendant sacrifice of our lives, if necessary, is among the highest callings, and worthy of honor. These similarities, and the compulsion of our hearts caring as they do, drives us to remember, to honor, and to commemorate the service of those, like ourselves, who have given so much.
Honor, courage, devotion to country, and the ultimate sacrifice are all things worthy of praise...
In my case, the similarities helped dilute the meaning of Memorial day, and I've been as guilty as the rest in contributing to the confusion. That, as you might imagine, was never my intention.
So today, I am reminded that Memorial Day is not about veterans in general, but specifically about those who lost their lives while in the service of their country. It is not about firefighters and police officers, though their courage and sacrifice is unquestionably as significant as others who gave their lives for us. It is not about the sacrifice of the heroes returning from combat with visible and invisible scars we can scarcely imagine.
Veteran's Day is for the living. Memorial Day is about the dead. It is about those who gave their lives on the line in defense of our country. They faced more than just the dangers that surround us daily, they stood against other men whose mission was to do them harm. Without diminishing the courage and honor of others who have given their lives, I cannot imagine that there is anything that compares to the knowledge that you might not make it through tomorrow because someone else wakes up with the intention to kill you before you do the same to them. Simply put,
Memorial Day,
which is observed on the last Monday of May,
commemorates the men and women
who died while in military service.
I guess I'd just forgotten.
For the most part, that means it's not about us or our shipmates. The Cold War spared us direct combat in the traditional sense, and we lived through the experience. I am unaware of any shipmates that died while on the boat, and I only know of one shipmate that died while on active duty, Jeffery Schenkler, who was killed in a motorcycle accident. (I expect you to correct me if I've missed someone!)
The honor today goes to those whose footsteps we followed, committing their lives to the defense of our Constitution, our Country, and our way of life, who aren't with us today because they made a commitment to give everything that was asked of them. Their absence means they can't share their stories and tell us of the sacrifice we know they made.
That's left to us, and that's why we honor them this Memorial Day.
Bivouac Of The Dead
By Theodore O'Hara
The muffled drum's sad roll has beat
The soldier's last tattoo;
No more on Life's parade shall meet
That brave and fallen few.
On fame's eternal camping ground
Their silent tents to spread,
And glory guards, with solemn round
The bivouac of the dead.
No rumor of the foe's advance
Now swells upon the wind;
Nor troubled thought at midnight haunts
Of loved ones left behind;
No vision of the morrow's strife
The warrior's dreams alarms;
No braying horn or screaming fife
At dawn shall call to arms.
Their shriveled swords are red with rust,
Their plumed heads are bowed,
Their haughty banner, trailed in dust,
Is now their martial shroud.
And plenteous funeral tears have washed
The red stains from each brow,
And the proud forms, by battle gashed
Are free from anguish now.
The neighing troop, the flashing blade,
The bugle's stirring blast,
The charge, the dreadful cannonade,
The din and shout, are past;
Nor war's wild note, nor glory's peal
Shall thrill with fierce delight
Those breasts that nevermore may feel
The rapture of the fight.
Like the fierce Northern hurricane
That sweeps the great plateau,
Flushed with triumph, yet to gain,
Come down the serried foe,
Who heard the thunder of the fray
Break o'er the field beneath,
Knew the watchword of the day
Was "Victory or death!"
Long had the doubtful conflict raged
O'er all that stricken plain,
For never fiercer fight had waged
The vengeful blood of Spain;
And still the storm of battle blew,
Still swelled the glory tide;
Not long, our stout old Chieftain knew,
Such odds his strength could bide.
Twas in that hour his stern command
Called to a martyr's grave
The flower of his beloved land,
The nation's flag to save.
By rivers of their father's gore
His first-born laurels grew,
And well he deemed the sons would pour
Their lives for glory too.
For many a mother's breath has swept
O'er Angostura's plain --
And long the pitying sky has wept
Above its moldered slain.
The raven's scream, or eagle's flight,
Or shepherd's pensive lay,
Alone awakes each sullen height
That frowned o'er that dread fray.
Sons of the Dark and Bloody Ground
Ye must not slumber there,
Where stranger steps and tongues resound
Along the heedless air.
Your own proud land's heroic soil
Shall be your fitter grave;
She claims from war his richest spoil --
The ashes of her brave.
Thus 'neath their parent turf they rest,
Far from the gory field,
Borne to a Spartan mother's breast
On many a bloody shield;
The sunshine of their native sky
Smiles sadly on them here,
And kindred eyes and hearts watch by
The heroes sepulcher.
Rest on embalmed and sainted dead!
Dear as the blood ye gave;
No impious footstep here shall tread
The herbage of your grave;
Nor shall your glory be forgot
While Fame her record keeps,
For honor points the hallowed spot
Where valor proudly sleeps.
Yon marble minstrel's voiceless stone
In deathless song shall tell,
When many a vanquished ago has flown,
The story how ye fell;
Nor wreck, nor change, nor winter's blight,
Nor time's remorseless doom,
Can dim one ray of glory's light
That gilds your deathless tomb.
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