Memorial Day was established to remember our fallen soldiers who gave their lives to preserve our freedom and our way of life.It is the kind of recollection which sometimes takes a back seat in its importance to so many of us, no matter how reverently we observe the day. There are statues commemorating our war dead. Parades occur yearly, which end at those sites where wreaths are laid in honor of the brave men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice. The Commander-In Chief heads to Arlington National Cemetery for the solemn ceremony which leads the nation in its caring for its fallen. Taps from a solo trumpet is a mournful dirge--for a dignified reason. Flags draped at half staff are a telling reminder of what happens when soldiers are in battle.
When I was young, there were actually living soldiers from the Civil War and the Spanish-American War. The wounds of the greatest conflict in our nation's history were still raw nearly 100 years later. We had the Greatest Generation from the epic fight against totalitarianism in World War II. The Korean War came not very long after the global battle. Then there was Vietnam, which tore open new holes in our consciousness. Iraq and Afghanistan have since followed. Too many wars, too many lives lost. Even in peacetime.
As much as Memorial Day is supposed to be a holiday for us to recall those who perished in this country's service, there are other thoughts which occur on this day. Sports, beach going, barbecues and merchants' sales are the ones that resonate with those who choose to recognize Memorial Day in their own manner.
Once I became a sports fan, I thought that baseball had a great idea with the Memorial Day, July 4th and Labor Day doubleheaders. For that matter, I loved Sunday twin bills as well. Two games, on special days. That, I thought, was tradition. And baseball was a game very much steeped in tradition.
Sadly, holiday doubleheaders have ceased to exist, as MLB teams have learned that they can fill their ballparks with fans for one game and line their coffers with more money than would be derived from a "gimmick." This season, there are a few games which start at 1:05 in their respective time zones. But there also are night games, something which was foreign to this day many years ago.
MLB does recognize servicemen and women on a daily basis. On this Memorial Day, the lettering for each jersey is black, while camouflage hats are worn in the field. A small token, but one which smells of gimmickry and jersey and hat sales, too. Much more appropriate is the Moment of Remembrance at 3:00 for afternoon contests.
Another sport which has ties to Memorial Day is auto racing. For years, the Indianapolis 500 was synonymous with Memorial Day. Nonetheless, that tradition has also seen better days, as the race was held yesterday. NASCAR held its Coca Cola 500 in North Carolina on Memorial Day; alas, that was also completed on Sunday. If those organizations are content with holding the events a day before the holiday, that is their choice.
The NCAA, no stranger to making a buck, has hosted its Division I Men's Lacrosse Championship on Memorial Day for awhile now. These big venue games draw the largest crowds for the sport.
On all sorts of levels, people are out and about--enjoying their unrelenting freedom--that those who are remembered on this day fought to insure. Memorial Day means the first day of the summer beach season--although summer is actually more than three plus weeks away. Sun worshipers, seeking to change the color of their skin to a bronze tone, with or without protective lotions and against the pleas of dermatologists, clog roadways, creating massive traffic jams. Such is big business here in New Jersey as well as down the Atlantic Seaboard and along the Gulf of Mexico, which I saw in person this past week.
Cities are alive with events. Having been in Atlanta through yesterday, there were festivals including a big Jazz Festival in Piedmont Park and throngs at the city's biggest tourist venues. To many, it is a three or four day weekend; a time to forget about work and to decompress a bit.
Again, this ability to enjoy, to meet with friends, try new things and to eat outdoors, is the product of protecting our way of life against our enemies, who still abound in large numbers throughout the world, threatening humankind's existence.
To not hold baseball games or other sporting events (the start of the Stanley Cup Finals begins tonight in Pittsburgh) stands in contrast to what we, as a nation, do and cherish. We have Veterans Day and Armed Forces Day for the war survivors and for those currently active in our military, and we do not stop living then, either.
Just do not refer to the Ohio State-Maryland lacrosse title match as a "war," or equate any football game in that way. It is not war and all the blood and gore and terror it provokes. Ask the survivors. Ask the families of those who did not return home.
Play all the games our country wants to watch or attend. Have fun. It is not a time for the living to stop living. Do not demean or diminish the day by desecrating the valor and dignity associated with those thrust into battle. On this day, keep a place in your mind and in your heart for the long line of valiant guardians of democracy we embody who are no longer with us.
To me, that is the message of what Memorial Day is really all about.
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