Memorial day like most holidays is now a long weekend rather than a date on the calendar. That small change, a boon to the irreverent and well, all of us – does tend to diminish the point.

U.S. Flag courtesy, United-States-Flag.org.

Lives have been lost, lifetimes changed from injuries and illnesses both from the determination to face those who would bring the free people of the world into their personal fiefdoms. The last century has seen the free peoples of the world answer the challenge, each time with ever increasing technological prowess and more highly skilled warriors.

Today is to memorialize these lives lost and lifetimes changed. Remembering those lost can be well served with little more than the gratitude of appreciating what is saved. Free people worldwide have choices, they can speak out with truths or falsehoods, they can leave, move and choose a new domain for their lives. Never before have so many been so free.

What comes of this freedom is the responsibility to act respectfully with others. Freedom isn’t a waiver to do whatever you want. Running nuclear fission experiments in the back yard isn’t being responsible for the lives and freedoms of the neighbors. But any private citizen can engage in lawful activities alone or in concert with others. Our associations are limitless.

The defenders we remember, honor, memorialize and miss have done much more than take up arms and sacrifice their lives. There are careers across the spectrum of huge military organizations that never hold a weapon but are just a valued in their roles to support those who do.

This is a link to pdf prepared by the Congressional Research Service. Within you can find a great deal of easily relevant data. What is most surprising is that over the course of U.S. history is the change in deaths and casualties as technology was applied. Even in the past generation the technological skills have taken such ideas like the infamous neutron bomb, a device that kills about everyone and everything so leaving the physical resources ripe for the plundering, to surgical strikes that barely services the need to destroy the enemy while leaving the innocent nearly free from collateral damage.

These improvements in doing battle have made war fighting a very different thing. The efforts by those in military service or contracting to support and supply them have brought many innovations to the free world.

Battle has changed. While the need for civilizations to have warriors may never entirely disappear, the context in which they do their service certainly has. For this, the willingness to adapt, change, improve, innovate and apply the force of the free upon those who would force their will upon others – is an example set in blood and treasure.

I choose to resolve in honor of those who have made their sacrifice, to courageously face my problems, my changes and adaptations with some small measure of the courage they have given – so that I might have the opportunity their sacrifice has permitted.


Comments

7 Comments so far

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  7. Gary Lamprey on September 27, 2011 1:25 AM

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