The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Let me rain on our parades and revelry
What if, rather than another barbecue, we seriously thought about finding ways to make war obsolete.
For many, Memorial Day signifies, all across America, the day our parks and beaches open, a holiday celebrated with parades, picnics and revelry.
It never quite seems appropriate. What if, rather than satisfy some hedonistic bent for another barbecue, we seriously thought about sacrifices made, lives lost, finding ways to make war obsolete in our children’s lifetimes, ways that for future generations, memorial days might be remembered more as a vestige of a thoughtful country?
In anticipation of this holiday, I challenged myself to remember my first Memorial Day standing next to my mother as uniformed men six times my size, four, eight and 16 across, tramped down Main Street, people cheering another skeleton regiment or gleaming brass band.
I remember the few older troops who’d fought in the Spanish American War, 1899, the dozens of companies who’d fought in World War I, 1917, and then the young faces of those that were then serving in World War II’s home front. In the crowd were veterans and veterans to be, some who’d perish in wars not yet named: the Cold War, Korea, Vietnam, El Salvador, the first Iraq War, parents and grandparents of a second Iraq War and Afghanistan. Thinking about those days comes hard, so far away, time gradually erasing the details of scores of flag waving parades in the course of a life.
What cannot be erased, and which I’m occasionally reminded, is the toll of lives lost in war.
By most conservative estimates the deaths for all major wars were, in which America fought during the 20th Century (all deaths/ U.S. combat deaths): WWI, 15,000,000/116,708; WWII, 40,000,000/407,316; Korea, 2,500,000/36,914; Vietnam, 2,500,000/58,169; and including the 21st century: Iraq, 110,600/4,430; Afghanistan, 26,000/2,386. Staggering.
What strikes me about these statistics is that we’ve learned little about eradicating armed conflict. Rather than the number of wars waning, the number increases each year.
The combat casualties on a per-war basis has decreased due to new technology and style of warfare, but brutality remains unmitigated. For example, between 2000-2016, reports of traumatic brain injuries for U.S. military personnel exceeded 361,000. Yet, for all the resources modern nations exploit, we see a paltry commitment in counterbalancing, either through advocacy or money, a non-violent war against war.
Margaret Mead said, “Never doubt that a small group of committed citizens can change the world — indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”
Long after the battle ends, long after our heroes come home, we citizens can’t forget what these men and women endured, we must strive to locate the missing, endeavor to help veterans who need it, and at every opportunity, urge our elected officials to do the same — not by saluting once a year, but by advocating for these brave men and women.