Heroes, Then and Now

Memorial Day was declared a federal holiday in 1971.

But the idea of celebrating those lost in battle was a grassroots movement, born in the ashes of the Civil War, sparked by Americans, both North and South. In Charleston, S.C., in 1865, former slaves showed their respect for some of the 620,000 on both sides who died in the Civil War by decorating their graves. In Waterloo, N.Y., in 1866, residents closed businesses and dotted soldiers’ graves with flowers and flags.

Of late the holiday seems to have descended into a mattress shopping binge. Nothing against a good night’s sleep of course. I’m happy we have the French Tennis Open and the Indy 500 to inspire us. And to have family and friends gather for a good barbeque or share some beach time, to mark summer’s start.

But if Memorial Day is to be saved as a meaningful exercise in social memory and gratitude to those who made the ultimate sacrifice, it will have to come, as it did a century ago, from the people. Show your true colors — with flags, parades and cemetery visits. Say a prayer for those who fell in battle. Read a Memorial Day speech by our great communicator Ronald Reagan. In 1986, he quoted Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., who fought and was wounded during the Civil War, and who later went on to serve as a US Supreme Court Justice. Holmes said, “At the grave of a hero, we end not with sorrow at the inevitable loss, but with the contagion of his courage.”

God knows, there are many military graves to visit. Since the nation’s Founding, we have participated in 14 major wars, not counting all the nation-building adventures encouraged by the globalists. But this year I’d like to honor those 13 soldiers at Abbey Gate in Afghanistan, who sacrificed their lives trying to rescue those of others. It was an evacuation botched at the highest levels of government in Washington DC, and like all such decisions had its most hurtful impact on ordinary Americans, parents and families who now grieve the loss of these examples of courage in uniform.

As Reagan said, “May we always walk in the light of their memory, the light of liberty, which shines from age to age, and still illuminates the way forward.”

Saturday, President Trump gave the commencement address at West Point Military Academy, to 1,002 graduating cadets. He is not Reagan, more New York warrior than Hollywood actor. But having covered White House during Reagan’s second term, I think The Gipper would have appreciated Trump’s message.

He told the cadets, later sworn in as second lieutenants, that the military’s mission was not to “spread democracy to everybody...at the point of a gun,” but rather “to dominate...and annihilate any threat to America, anywhere, anytime and anywhere.”

He spoke of “peace through strength,” the ultimate deterence, outlining a $1 trillion budget he said will give the US military the best armment it needs to succeed. Included is a Golden Dome to protect us from attack. When Reagan first proposed something similar, he was ridiculed by the media, which dubbed the idea Star Wars.

“If the United States is under attack, the Army will obliterate our opponents with overwhelming strength and devastating force,” said Trump. But he would prefer diplomacy. “Because as much as you want to fight, I'd rather do it without having to fight. I just want to look at them and have them fold -- and that’s happening.”

If so, if Trump becomes the peace through strength president, it will save yet another generation of our soldiers from filling more cemeteries. But there are plenty to visit already, in military cemeteries across the country. Go visit. And take a flag.