In Memoriam

This weekend as we all run out to go four-wheeling or camping or swimming, let's all take a moment to remember what exactly we're supposed to be commemorating.

I was reading an article in the Washington Post today that remarked on the way that citizens of our nation have apparently minimized the recognition they give our fallen heroes on this day. Not to say that we aren't appreciative of the sacrifices that have been made for the sake of our liberties, but we don't seem to display it the way we used to.

Some of my treasured memories were listening to the tales of honor and courage that were told to me by veterans of some of our nation's conflicts. I remember listening to a former WWII B-17 tailgunner tell me about his friends who fell out of the sky over Germany. I remember catching a rare snippet muttered by a marine who served in Korea. Listening to my barber tell me about some of his friends that were lost in combat. I remember some of my own colleagues telling me about the trials they pushed through in the Bakaara Market. One in particular told me about the way his gut dropped when he heard his friends Gary Gordon and Randy Shughart volunteer to protect Mike Durant. He knew he'd never see them alive again. I suppose that I have a few stories of my own to tell now. The HMMWV crew who were in the wrong place at the wrong time and lost their lives to a carbomb. Or the sergeant who just couldn't take it anymore and took matters into his own hands (perhaps even more unfortunate that what we would typically consider a casualty of war).

It seems, in this new age of low-casualty, virtual warfare filled with drones, smart-bombs, long range artillery, cruise missiles, and advanced fighter-bombers, that we become detached from the reality that is war. We ignore the casualties of our current conflicts. We seek to ignore the grim nature of the war in which we are engaged and call it a "contingency operation". Death tolls are counted on a news-network tv screen and used as political fodder instead of given the respect that these fallen heroes deserve.

In Bagram, Afghanistan (and I would presume Iraq), soldiers stand and salute every fallen soldier that is carried by on his final journey home. The silence at these ceremonies is deafening. You can see in the faces of those young men and women the respect they have for that fallen comrade. The knowledge that that could be them. The courage of understanding that they accept that danger knowingly.

I hope that we will all take a moment this Memorial Day to conduct our own fallen soldier ceremony. Please visit the grave of a fallen veteran. Go to a memorial service. Put a flag up in your yard. At least take a moment to remember those who died making our way of life possible.

Perhaps, if we at least remember the sacrifices made for us by these, we won't squander the inheritance they have left us.

Quote of the Day

"I contend that for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle." -Winston Churchill

Invading Oil

Once upon a time an oil leak sprung up in the Gulf of Mexico. Ever so gradually, the oil approached the Gulf coast of the Unites States. Eventually, it began to reach its shores.

As the oil approached the country, the federal government promised the nation that it would assist those who would be affected financially by this crisis. Gradually, industries, cities, and entire regions were impacted. Fisheries lost fish to the pollution, droves of dead seagulls were found on the nation's shores, tourism plummeted, fishermen lost work, restaurants couldn't get fresh seafood, grocery store prices rose.

In good form, the government kept its promise. It did its best to reimburse losses to impacted people, it subsidized gulf businesses with suffering margins, and it offered counseling to individuals and families who were emotionally impacted by the problem.

One day, a concerned citizen said to his neighbor, "You know, this oil spill is really wreaking havoc on our lives. I wonder why nobody has done anything to stop it? Shouldn't we stop this spill rather than just sit and try to clean up the mess?" The neighbor agreed. So the two went to their mayor. The mayor thought they were on to something, so he approached the governor, who in turn spoke with a senator. Eventually the question arrived at the desk of the president.

"What an atrocity!" he declared, "We must do something about this!" He gave a compelling speech and soon congress passed a law which declared oil spill cleanup, mitigation, and elimination to be a federal priority. He even created a new federal bureau that was responsible for this endeavor. New jobs were created, and men were stationed at the coast to respond to influxes of oil. The public was overjoyed. Finally, something would be done to stop the mess. Scholars and renowned think tanks thought of brilliant ways to stop the leak.

Days, then weeks, then months passed. However, no real action was taken. Crews were in fact helping to stop some of the mess closer to the shore, but the leaks continued.

Eventually, the governor of one of the states most affected by this disaster took action. He gathered some men who looked at all the brilliant plans that these think tanks and scholars had concocted, selected what seemed to be the best course of response and took action. They announced to the public their plan to take a boat out to the source of the spill and install a containment dome around it. They were sure that they were to be regarded as heroes.

Oddly, outrage ensued. "How dare they!" some cried, "Oil does us so much good. It powers our cars and planes, it fuels our industries! What a crime to try to eliminate oil!" Others argued that since there was already a federal law in place that the governor was wrong for taking action. "That's a federal responsibility. Doesn't he know his place? That's a crime against our constitution!" they shouted.

Eventually the issue was brought before the courts. They decided that oil spill cleanup, mitigation, and elimination was indeed a federal responsibility. The containment dome was dismantled, the governor's commission disbanded. "Justice has been served," the pundits declared.

The oil spill continued, cleanup crews continued to do there best to cope with the disaster, but the mess remained, and the poor seagulls continued to die.

One day, a concerned citizen said to his neighbor, "You know, this oil spill is really wreaking havoc on our lives. I wonder why nobody has done anything to stop it? Shouldn't we stop this spill rather than just sit and try to clean up the mess?"

"That's seditious," whispered his neighbor, "I'm sure the government is doing all it can."

"You're right. Forget I asked."