A Solemn Memorial Day
Terry H. Schwadron
May 30, 2002
Amid picnics, parades and yard sales, it might be useful to remember that Memorial Day was born of solemnity for those caught up in war.
We still have wars aplenty, of course, starting with the inexplicable Russian incursion into Ukraine that quickly has become a proxy war for the United States and European allies. We still have Americans in harm’s way in Korea, we’re actively training our European troops for battle and we’re sending U.S. troops into Somalia to confront terrorists.
But we also have our domestic wars of different sort. Too many continue to die from opioids and even these newer, perhaps less lethal rounds of covid; too many are dying in mass shootings for no discernible reason at all except our unwillingness to deal with underlying causes.
A walk through most towns reflects businesses drying up for rent increases they cannot afford, and business is reporting widespread death of employee loyalty. In New York City and other urban areas, officials wonder aloud if pandemic has taken too much away for orderly return.
Too many are dying more slowly of hunger, poor health, or income-deprivation or from the corrosive effects of continued inflated costs and greed. Subpoenas by Congress apparently are optional if you disagree with the purpose of the inquiry, and court-shopping for the right judge is now considered a regular, usual tactic. Truth, unity, American values, commitment to democratic access to voting, civil and individual rights are all facing life-sucking challenges.
This is a Memorial Day for shooting victims, for loss from health and security, from the descent into constant bickering over procedures and perceived slights rather than looking at the wider picture.
Consider the Bigger Picture
The moment of a Memorial Day may be a chance to stop and consider it all — to be solemn, yes — but to consider our place in a community of others and press for more hopefulness, as individuals and as a society.
Memorial Day did not change the outcome of last century’s wars. At best, it provides an opportunity to thank those who went to do the fighting to keep our democracy. But the flag-waving ceremonies should be relevant to our other ongoing wars as well.
I played two orchestral concerts recently that were built around the concept of memorializing people who had given of themselves. The music itself reflected the specific contributions of two individuals — one a popular music director, one a jocular leader of the group for 70 years — but it also ennobled a spirit of service, something that seems to be waning fast in our immediate gratification world. It doesn’t have to be saving the world, just about caring for others.
We’ve already forgotten clapping nightly at 7 p.m. to thank medical front-liners for stepping into covid despite personal risk. We’ve long since cynically decided that politicians are more in it for their personal advancement than for any sense of public service.
We became so inured to celebrating a growing sense of individual rights in our society that we lost sight of how a change in attitude could so tilt our Supreme Court into striking down its own precedents on abortion, guns and privacy as to put millions feeling at risk.
Solemnity might let us reconsider a nation where we have some obligation to look out for one another, to help across boundaries of race or class or age. It might remind us to listen before we speak or to try to understand someone on the other side of our deepening political rifts. It might require reminding ourselves and neighbors about what we share rather than how deeply we differ.
Act on It
Solemnity should remind us not to accept bad dealings, but that we have strength to get the world we work to create.
If our rules and constitutional practices no longer seem to apply, no longer capture the complexities or technologies of our world, let’s reconsider them, not double down on “originalist” theories that are being used to call on 200-year-old political practicalities as an excuse for uncivil behaviors.
If it is our leadership that is out of order, throw the bums out. If that Constitutional piety tells us anything, it is that every individual’s vote counts, that we don’t stop counting election returns to match a partisan outcome, that we don’t let perceptions about invented traditions keep us from protecting children.
Let’s get everyone in this country to vote, for starters. Maybe then the polls will mean something. Let’s return the needle to a place of public safety and fairness for all, not a singular class or race or gender. Let’s demand the nation reflect a sense of inclusion. And let’s show that we care more about people than guns.
If we believe Memorial Day has something to say about American values, it’s probably not an endorsement of Big Lies to obtain power, or scheming to overthrow our own government, or insisting that 18-year-olds should be able to buy and use assault-style rifles modified for bigger ammunition caches. Wd should expect our leadership to own up when things go wrong, and not to play everything only for its public relations imagery.
There is room for political debate over the how, but we really shouldn’t be wasting the time, dollars, and effort over ignoring the essential hopes and expectations for health, safety and rights of individuals to choose their best way and for our society to show that it cares about its people.
##