Memorial Day is this Month

I thought that I would dedicate a separate post to this. Every year I sort of get in a mode of national pride in May for both the countries I claim. Not entirely sure why, although I think part of it is that it is Norway's independence day on May 17th. Additionally, in the end of the month is Memorial Day, when we celebrate all of those veterans who have lost their lives in conflict over the course of our nation's history.

As a part of this, I have found that the past couple of years I have returned to the Band of Brothers miniseries and watched it all the way through. Perhaps a bit of a bizarre tradition, but I think it is important that we remind ourselves from time to time what these men and women are willing to put themselves through out of a sense of duty to our country. Sacrifices have been made from the time of the Revolution through until today. Whether or not we agree with all or any of these wars, one can never underestimate the courage of the individuals who have actually been placed in the conflict and seen war. They must not be seen as perpetrators or executors of bad policy, but rather as public servants. If a soldier is at fault for acting upon command, then the diplomat is equally at fault for agreeing to the policy in the first place (actually, in my opinion, the civilian bears greater responsibility because they create the policy).

I have also read the book, Band of Brothers by Stephen Ambrose, and highly recommend giving it a read-through. At one point, as the men were preparing for D-Day, one young pilot with a wife at home and a child on the way wrote a letter home, the words of which have really stuck with me for years now.

He said, "We are fortunate in being Americans. At least we don't step on the underdog. I wonder if that's because there are no 'Americans' - only a stew of immigrants - of if it's because the earth from which we exist has been so kind to us and our forefathers; or if it's because the 'American' is the offspring of the logical European who hated oppression and loved freedom beyond life? Those great mountains and the tall timber; the cool deep lakes and broad river; the green valleys and white farmhouses; the air, the sea and wind; the plains and great cities; the smell of living - all must be the cause of it. And yet, with all that, we can't get away from the rest. For every one of our millions who has that treasure in his hand there's another million crying for that victory of life. And for each of us who wants to live in happiness and give happiness, there's another different sort of person wanting to take it away...

Those people always manage to have their say, and Mars is always close at hand. We know how to win wars. We must learn now to win peace... If I ever have a son, I don't want him to go through this again, but I want him powerful enough that no one will be fool enough to touch him. He and America should be strong as hell and kind as Christ."

1 LT Thomas Meehan of the 101st Airborne Division was killed when his plane was shot down over Normandy in the first hours of D-Day.

This year, Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks have come out with a new mini-series, The Pacific. I have only seen the first installment, but I can already say the whole thing is worth watching. Especially because I think to a large degree (maybe this is my Cambridge perspective kicking in), the Pacific campaign of WWII is so little understood compared to the European. It was a nasty jungle war, and this series reflects that. I think sometimes we need to be made uncomfortable, however, so we realize that war is no romanticized drama.