Memorial Day Blues
My kids have been a part of the Trumansburg Marching Band in the Memorial Day Parade for years, so I’ve attended a few of the ceremonies that follow the parades. The American Legion organizes these parades, and invites someone from the military to speak to the crowd. Oddly, I’ve never heard any of these speakers, address the question of wether or not it is wise to continue to sacrifice more and more lives in our current conflicts. They seem to think it inappropriate to talk about politics on Memorial Day, and so we play John Philip Sousa songs and admire the crisp uniforms and observe the world through a patriotic lens. The next day we return to paying for more war with our tax dollars. Is this really what our fallen soldiers would want? Our illegal occupation of Iraq bothers me greatly so I asked the parade organizers if someone from Back To Democracy could speak. They said no.
We have been observing Memorial Day in this country since 1865. It is appropriate that we continue this practice, and reflect at least once a year, on the sacrifice of thousands of brave men and women. Part of this reflection, must be to ask why they chose to make this ultimate sacrifice, because sacrifice for ideals such as honor, or patriotism, or defense contractor profits, or oil company profits, seem to me, much less significant than sacrificing for the defense of our country, our freedom, and our constitution.
There are times when a nation must go to war. My great, great, great grandfather fought in the War of 1812. The British invaded Washington and burned the White House, and 2260 of our ancestors died defending our country. 14 million allied soldiers perished in World War 2, defending the world from the Hitler, Tojo, and Mussolini.
We would dishonor our fallen ancestors, if we suspended critical thinking, and allowed their progeny to die for causes of any less merit.
According to the Department of Defense, 3455 US soldiers have died since we invaded Iraq. (5/28) We’ve been told a series of lies as to why we invaded. Our president has used fear of terrorism, to bolster his case. When that doesn’t work, he tells us we are spreading democracy.
My kids used to belong to the same play-group as a kid who graduated from Ithaca High School last spring and is now in Baghdad as part of George Bush’s surge. I admire his willingness to serve his country, but at the same time I despise the people who have deluded him. Chances are very good that next year we can remember this kid’s sacrifice on Memorial Day, and for what? Is he fighting them over there, so we won’t have to fight them over here? No. His actions are increasing the number of people that seek to do us harm (according to the Pentagon’s National Intelligence Estimate). Is he looking for weapons of mass destruction? Of course not. Is he spreading democracy? No, democracy can not be spread at the barrel of a gun.
Colin Powell said that war must be used only as a last resort, so Bush asked him to leave, and replaced him with a more compliant Secretary of State. Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, and Wolfwowitz used war as an instrument of foreign policy. This is very far from what our founders intended. George Washington warned us against foreign entanglements. James Madison, our fourth president and principal author of our constitution said “Of all the enemies to public liberty war is, perhaps, the most to be dreaded, because it comprises and develops the germ of every other.”
War must be used only as the last resort, only for self defense, never preemptively, and never without the consent of the United Nations Security Council.
On Memorial Day, the best way to honor the memory of fallen soldiers is to strive to keep the wonderful country that they died for, and we cannot do that work if we are blinded by patriotism. If patriotism means blindly supporting a government gone wrong, then I am not a patriot, but if patriotism means doing all that we can do to return this country to the principles that it was founded on, then I’m proud to be a patriot.
Well put, Allen.
Memorial Day has become a day of partial memory, in which we’re expected to purge everything negative about war and the military from our minds and pour out uncritical support.
That’s not how I celebrate Memorial Day. I think we need to work to preserve the record of the dark of war as well as the light, so that future generations can remember more honestly.
The reason that the military speakers at these Memorial Day ceremonies don’t talk about the wisdom of any particular political decision around troop deployment is that the military is supposed to be an apolitical body. Certainly, the politicizing of the military could lead down a slippery slope to praetorianism, or (at an extreme) rule by the military, and our founding fathers were smart enough to realize the danger in that. One of the hallmarks of our military system is that the commanders give the orders, and the military follows them. That’s their job. (Not one I’d sign up for, but I have to say I’m glad someone is willing to do it.) The military is not supposed to question their role. That would be sort of like, well, say the Village Board passed a noise law, and Police Chief Tom Ferretti decided he didn’t like this law, so he just ignores it, or worse, goes on record saying what a bad law he thinks it is. Yeesh! But that’s not his job to put in his two cents. That’s the Board’s job, and Tom’s job is to enforce the laws, not pass judgement on how just they are.
The duty of the military is service to country, and it precludes partisanship. Any attempt to politicize the military is really a danger to a democratic society.
By not wanting Back to Democracy speakers at memorial services, the American Legion was really honoring the memories of the fallen, in a straightforward and unpolitical way. I think that’s highly appropriate.
I understand how angry people are about this war — I’m angry too. But I also understand the basic principles on which our country was founded and the boundaries that were established to ensure that our country continues into the future with its governmental principles intact.
And Alan, I agree with much of the rest of what you said… but please realize there are reasons for keeping politics out of memorial services.
Mary,
I suppose you’re right that the military is supposed to be apolitical, but that’s really besides the point. Memorial Day is a holiday when all of us, not just the military, and not just the American Legion, are supposed to reflect on the sacrifice of fallen soldiers. I did that, and it caused me to consider why they sacrificed. I think that’s healthy. I think if we all thought about it and discussed where we want to go with this country, that we might learn something.
What if Memorial Day was a day that we remembered women that have died of breast cancer. Would it be inappropriate to speak about cancer screening and research? This country is detached from the war. Most people don’t think about it at all from day to day. I think we should take every opportunity to bring it to people’s attention.
You say that the military is apolitical, but it is not above the law. Lieutenant Ehren Watada refused deployment because he became aware that the occupation of Iraq is illegal. http://thankyoult.org/ If the village board passed a noise law, and Tom Ferritti knew that a higher court would soon reverse the law, then he would be wise not to enforce it.
A lot of people have an aversion towards politics. They don’t realize that it effects every aspect of their lives. They don’t realize that politicians got us into this war. Not talking about politics on the day that we all think about our fallen soldiers is like burying your head in the sand.
[...] The military guise is just a Rove-ian concoction to keep you focused on their bogus war on terror. [...]
The American Legion is actually a very political organization.
The military has also been used for political purposes by the government.
“Support the troops” became a political slogan that had very little to do with supporting actual soldiers.
Memorial Day has already been made a political event, and it’s not just in our little parade. A very selective memory of war is given on Memorial Day. Memorial Day is a time for honoring war, when dissent is not tolerated. Memorial Day speeches tend to have a very strong political subtext.
What we need is other holidays to counter this bias. Wouldn’t it be great if Peace Day became recognized as an official holiday?
Amen, Peace Day! There is another way to work things out. How come it is not studied and modeled more? Actually i think a few colleges do offer Peace Studies programs. I always wonder what kids think when we tell them to talk things out rather than use violence- the example in the history books and the media is to the contrary. Mediation skills and positive role model training can start right here in Trumansburg.
Actually, there is already an International Peace Day – September 21.
Anyone want to organize a Peace Day parade for Trumansburg? We could throw candy to the kids and everything (okay, packages of tofu or VeggieBooty too, to be healthy).
Replies to Alan and Jonathan:
Alan, if Ferretti took it upon himself to not enforce a law simply because he “knew” (how? ESP?) a higher court would overturn the law, then in effect he BECOMES that higher court. Not good.
Jonathan,
You say the American Legion is actually a very political organization. How so?
Maybe you know something I don’t. This is what I
find on the American Legion’s website:
“We associate ourselves together for the following purposes:
To uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States of America; to maintain law and order; to foster and perpetuate a one hundred percent Americanism; to preserve the memories and incidents of our associations in the Great Wars; to inculcate a sense of individual obligation to the community, state and nation; to combat the autocracy of both the classes and the masses; to make right the master of might; to promote peace and goodwill on earth; to safeguard and transmit to posterity the principles of justice, freedom and democracy; to consecrate and sanctify our comradeship by our devotion to mutual helpfulness.”
What’s political about that? There’s patriotism, but you don’t have to be political to be a patriot.
“..to promote peace and goodwill…” Where’s the part about promoting war?
True the military has been used for political purposes, but that’s the politicians doing that, NOT the military.
I haven’t been to a lot of Memorial Day ceremonies but the ones I have attended have been rather somber affairs. Nobody saying “Isn’t war the greatest thing? We just love war! We love seeing our buddies getting killed, we love killing people in far away places.” Far from it.
Memorial Day services are not the time or place for political dissent. Just like injecting a political rant into someone’s eulogy would definitely strike a sour note. And I’d be saying the same thing if it was the Cornell Young Republicans or Back to Democracy or the Libertarians or Cattlemen’s Lobbying Association who wanted to speak at Memorial Day ceremonies. They’d all just be politicizing an event that shouldn’t be political.
Mary, consider these phrases:
- “to foster and perpetuate a one hundred percent Americanism”
- “to combat the autocracy of both the classes and the masses”
Those are extremely political phrases, although they’re vague.
I have firsthand experience with the political extremism of the American Legion. I attended Boys State, organized by the American Legion, and as a part of the activities, was compelled to attend sessions at which American Legion leaders got up and gave extremely political, angry, speeches promoting not just war and military spending, but a long list of the kind of right wing “culture war” issues, using the kind of language that you’d expect to hear from Ann Coulter. I saw a very blatant political aspect of the American Legion. I don’t know if the local organization here is like that, but the New York State organization was clearly Republican-linked and quite militant in its promotion of particular politics. I wouldn’t recommend Boys State to any teenager who believes in independent thinking or open dialogue. The very idea of combining political training with the flavor of military boot camp was shocking and bizarre to me, especially when it was mixed in with religious elements.
As for Memorial Day, well of course the pro-war slant of the holiday’s rhetoric isn’t so blatant as people saying, “Isn’t war the greatest thing? We just love war! We love seeing our buddies getting killed, we love killing people in far away places.†That’s setting up an absurd strawman. Think about Fox News. Even with Fox News pro-war diatribes they don’t say that kind of stuff. Even George W. Bush never talks like that.
Well… with Fox News and Boys State, we seem to have gotten away from the basic idea that the military should be apolitical. That’s my basic premise. And I’m stickin’ to it.
I agree that the military should be apolitical. Unfortunately, it isn’t.