Memorial Day

by Don Harkey

Growing up in the 1980's in America was an interesting time. As a youth, I was sure that I would be drafted once I reached the military age. After all, my father enlisted after getting an extremely low draft number, I could only expect the same, right? Every war or military engagement looked to be the start of "our" conflict. Iran. Grenada. Panama. Then Desert Storm.

I think that growing up expecting to serve gives you a different view of the military. My Dad (who served his tour in Colorado largely because of his ability to type) talked about how many people scoffed at soldiers returning from war. They were treated badly. Very badly.

I think my generation decided that that would not happen again. After all, we might be next, right?

When Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait, I was in high school. It is hard to remember what America thought was coming before the first Gulf War. We expected a long conflict, much like Vietnam or Korea. So the homefront rallied. There were songs (remember "Voices that Care"?), gift packs, and pledges that we would always support our men and women in uniform.

In the past 30 years, I think America has learned a valuable lesson. Even as we fight our second war in Iraq with a majority of American's opposing the war, we still remember as a country the sacrifice made by our people and especially by their families. As a people, we don't take war lightly, and we try to remember the sacrifices.

We try. Life has too much noise in it to remember the daily struggles of the families of service men and women and the constant challenges of our armed forces. We forget the World War II veterans who fought in the 2nd "war to end all wars". We forget the soldiers from Korea and Vietnam who came when called. We forget the Mothers of Children whose Father's spend their days in a far off land. We forget those who will never come back and those whose lives have been forever changed.

Right now, in this moment, I will take a few precious minutes to remember and to pray for our own. May the children hear their sacrifice for generations to come!