This Just In – Memorial Day is much more than the unofficial kickoff of our collective summer vacation.
Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate the marking of the fashion benchmarks and you’re not going to catch me wearing white before this weekend. It’s time to open the pool, slather on the sunscreen and make the macaroni salad.
We have these rituals to enjoy because of the thousands of Americans who fought and died to protect us. These people were doing what our current president cannot understand – courageously serving for the sake of their patriotic beliefs, not for profit. People referred to as “suckers and losers” by our draft-dodging president.
They’re nothing of the sort, of course. They’re actual patriots and heroes. Memorial Day is not for those who lost an arm or a leg (or more) but survived. It’s for those who did not. It’s for a 20-year-old who was first off the troop ship in Normandy and never made it to the beach, or his college graduation, or his wedding. Never had children to whom he could be a father and a champion.
The loss of potential is among the most heartbreaking in a war. Young men whose lives are suddenly cut short, young women widowed at the start of marriage and not in old age. Mothers burying their children. All of those possibilities are stolen from both sides of any war.
While the United States is not currently engaged in a hot conflict overseas right now, our role in both Gaza and Ukraine is unmistakable. It’s even more heartbreaking and frustrating because it’s rudderless.
This year on Memorial Day I expect I’ll find myself grieving the loss of the country we once were. The country that responded resoundingly to President Kennedy’s admonition …
“Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country.”
Many Americans still cling to those words today. There are daily protests against illegal deportations of U.S. residents. These occur all over the country in larger and larger numbers. These people are patriots, too.
In a couple of weeks, Cadet Bonespurs will throw himself a very expensive birthday parade on our dime, glorifying himself with marching military representatives of people saluting him and wasting our resources by flying fighter jets overhead and rolling military vehicles on the streets of our capital.
On that same day there will be a vast national counter-protest. There will be concerts and speeches and fireworks cheering our Bill of Rights and two of our three branches of government. I’m merely guessing, but I think that this kind of exercise is going to happen again and again because the resistance movement has some great big advantages over the MAGA movement.
1) The leadership of whip smart people.
2) Moral clarity.
3) The fundamental goodness of ordinary people.
So take a day to enjoy your picnic, place a bouquet at cemetery and remember those who gave the last full measure of devotion to your country so that you can enjoy your peaceful holiday. Maybe during that thoughtful time, ask yourself what you can do for your country.
Write a letter. Make a call to your representatives. Speak up to protect the vulnerable. Check, double check, triple check your voter registration. Stay engaged. Resistance matters a great deal.
Jean Bolduc is a freelance writer and the host of the Weekend Watercooler on 97.9 The Hill. She is the author of “African Americans of Durham & Orange Counties: An Oral History” (History Press, 2016) and has served on Orange County’s Human Relations Commission, The Alliance of AIDS Services-Carolina, the Orange County Housing Authority Board of Commissioners, and the Orange County Schools’ Equity Task Force. She was a featured columnist and reporter for the Chapel Hill Herald and the News & Observer.
Readers can reach Jean via email – [email protected] and via Twitter @JeanBolduc
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