Take time to honor those who sacrificed on our behalf
The young army lieutenant stood alone in the open doorway of the olive green C-47 Skytrain transport aircraft. The cool midnight air backhanded his right cheek but he didn’t notice. His waxen face, covered in black and green camouflage paint, framed two dark vacant eyes.
He stared into the night, his mind filled with thoughts of home, mom, and his high school baseball team. He suddenly felt a small nudge in his chest, a slight tremor that confirmed for him and his fellow paratroopers that the fear hovering above their souls was about to become a death-dealing reality — heavy anti-aircraft fire. He squinted through the hurricane force slipstream and saw gold and white and blue streamers, unleashed by earthbound enemies, piercing the sky in unimaginable directions.
In an odd way it reminded him of the 4th of July show over the lake a few years ago. But he quickly resigned himself to the fact tonight’s sky was not filled with fireworks — the darkness was thick with screaming metal lethality that would take a physical, emotional, and spiritual chunk out of every man who was forced by fate to pass through this gauntlet over Normandy, France.
It was the early hours of June 6, 1944, D-Day. The young officer suddenly felt very mortal and very afraid. And so began the equation in his head: “Should I jump? Is it worth it?”
He stood just inside the airplane door as he waited for the green light, the unsympathetic signal that indicated they had reached their drop zone. His chapped lips were forming the end of the Lord’s Prayer when the force from an exploding shell knocked him to the deck. He was groggy but could sense that he was alive and no longer in the plane. He was in a place much louder than what he was used to back home. He looked around and saw people hurrying about, angry and distracted expecting something from someone. It was the future. It was America in 2016.
He struggled to comprehend the scene before him. He was confused when he saw that the things he and the folks of his time believed to be the foundation of the nation: patriotism, honesty, civility, work ethic, responsibility, family, and faith, were now mocked by many as being out of touch and exclusive.
He knew deep down that America in 1944 was flawed in many respects and there was much work to be done. But 2016 was something different entirely. There were celebrities whose only talent was keeping their name in the news and ballplayers making tens of millions of dollars a year holding out for more. Much of the music and cinema was violent and profane. He saw the traditions of Sunday had been replaced by football and travel ball. He saw a generation with their faces buried in their smart phones being conned by a media machine that valued narrative over truth. He saw a broken political system and was stunned by the candidates for president. He was discouraged and bewildered and shook his head to clear the cobwebs. “Is this what I’m jumping for? What kind of country is this?”
He saw college students, the same age as most of the men in his plane, crying out for safe areas when they found a presidential candidate’s name scrawled in chalk on their campus. He saw law enforcement officers demonized, the military scrounging for spare parts, and an economy teetering on the brink of another collapse. He saw fights over bathrooms and single use plastic bags and mascot names. “Should I jump? Is this worth dying for?”
The scream of the C-47’s engines brought the lieutenant back to reality. The pilots were clawing for every ounce of energy as they neared the drop zone. The young officer was now on his feet, looking down the length of the plane at his men as they made their final equipment checks. He pondered what he saw of America in the future and agonized over the cost of it all. Was America in 2016 worth him and his men paying the ultimate price in 1944? Was the chaos he saw 72 years in the future worth the price they might have to pay if and when they made it down to French soil?
The light turned green. “Is it worth it?” He looked one more time affectionately at the brave souls in his charge ... took a small step towards the open door ... paused for a brief moment to smile at his answer to the equation ... then jumped into the violent night. He did so with the belief that his sacrifice, and the sacrifice of thousands of other soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, and coast guardsmen that night and across the world the next seven decades would be worth it. That America in 2016, with all of our deep divisions and serious issues is still worth it. That the American people are worth it. That America’s future is worth it.
Memorial Day is Monday. Please take a minute to remember the brave men and women who chose to jump into the fight on our behalf. The freedom we enjoy and often take for granted came at their expense. Honor them. It’s the least we can do.