Memorial Day Special Feature
Pause and consider those who sacrificed all
By Jim Killbrew, Lincoln

[May 30, 2021]   They have been called Doughboys, leathernecks, G.I.s, Troops, Dogface, Army, Air Force, National Guard, Navy, Marines or Military. They are sometimes referred to as Armed Forces. More recently for those who served in the last World War, they were referred to as “The Greatest Generation.”

They have fought to free our country from tyranny from British rule in the Revolutionary War, preserved a splitting nation during the Civil War, repelled foreign domination in two World Wars, fought communism in Korea and Viet Nam, freed a friendly nation from invasion in Dessert Storm, toppled a dictator and helped build a nation of freedom in Iraq and fought to destroy avowed terrorist extremists in Afghanistan.

While serving sometimes years in the most difficult circumstances of life that separates from family, creates hardship, forging lifelong bonds, being removed from American soil to hostile lands, sacrificing body and limb, many have given the ultimate sacrifice of their own life.

Service to their country is what they did. They served on ships, in airplanes, tanks, jeeps, hummers, helicopters, trucks and on foot. They gave their word and spoke an oath to protect and preserve “our way of life” in the United States even to the point of dying to allow each of us to remain free. They have marched through mud and fire, eaten swill, frozen in foxholes, fried in desserts and been eaten by mosquitoes in the jungle. They have been in grave danger under enemy fire, tortured by enemy as captives, and sustained emotional trauma as they have been aware of their loved ones at home suffering on wages that sometimes qualified them for welfare. And yet for some of them even though their tour of duty finished and provided opportunity to return to American civilization, they have stood tall and marched right back into the “hot zone” for another tour because of their sense of honor and duty. For those who gave their very life for honor and country, this Memorial Day they are being remembered.

War is tragic. It separates, destroys, and changes things forever. But it also unifies in such a way as to create relationships and friendships that last a lifetime. Sometimes even more than the husband-wife relationship that is based on love, tenderness and protection, the relationships formed in war forms a bond that is maintained through the years by remembrance. Trench, foxhole, jungle, or desert experiences forge bonds that change two people in such a way as no other experience can. During those experiences when lives are in peril, spirits and souls become entwined in such a way as to mold into those person’s minds the essence of oneness with a memory that will last a lifetime. Is it any wonder that those who have had such experiences stand tall and proud on a day like Memorial Day as they remember and mourn the loss of their comrades?

There are others, however, who may not understand the significance of such a remembrance. To them it may be the sales at the local department stores, or the parade on television. To some it may be that it is a holiday and a day off from work to go to the beach or have a picnic. It may just simply be another day on the calendar. To all of us it should be a day for honoring all of those who have given their all to make our lives freer.

Memorial Day is a day to pause and think of all whose lives have been given in sacrifice to ensure that our lives can remain free. I have a picture in my living room titled, "Reflections", depicting an older civilian who was a soldier in Vietnam, standing with outreached arm with fingers touching the Wall with thousands of names. From inside the wall two or three young fellow soldiers are standing with one reaching up from inside the wall with outstretched arm touching the fingers of the one standing outside the wall. From time to time, I stop and gaze at the picture and am emotionally touched at the scene. The closeness to those with whom they shared the experience is a powerful relationship. That is something that only they have that none of the rioters at that time or anyone else missing that experience has.

So, if you see someone pausing on the sidewalk, bowing his head for a minute or two on that day, or someone looking up to a waving flag for a moment, or a man removing his hat at the passing of the colors during a parade you may be watching, just watch for a moment and remember. What you may be witnessing is a person whose memory is that of an exploding bomb, or a best friend’s life ebbing away as he holds him in his arms, or a wife who has lost a husband, or the child of a Mom who gave her best for the war effort back home, or a woman who has gallantly fought in one of our more recent wars. But as you watch, remember too, each of those men and women who have sacrificed their lives have done so in order to keep all of us free. Our only true and just response to all of them, both fallen and those still living and remembering, is, "A prayer of Thanks for your service."

Jim Killebrew
Lincoln, Illinois