Memorial Day: A Time For Remembrance

Like countless other Americans all over the country, this Memorial Day weekend will find my family grilling in our backyard, sampling numerous pasta and potato salads, and pitching horseshoes or playing corn hole.  

Memorial Day is an extra day off school or work. It’s family time. It should also be time of reflection and remembrance.

The holiday began in 1868 as a way to pay tribute to fallen Union soldiers of the Civil War. Every year since, we celebrate Memorial Day as a way to remember our veterans, our current service members and those who have given their lives for our country.

In November, I was fortunate enough to be able to attend a deployment ceremony for Army Reservists from the 332nd Medical Logistics Company based in St Peters. They were headed to a small Middle East country called Qatar, and they would be providing support for medical operations there for the next 10 months.

If you have ever been to a deployment ceremony, you know it’s heart wrenching. If you’ve never been, you may have seen the video online of the families being surprised by a soldier’s return home—equally moving. That day in November, I witnessed so much that touched me: a young woman kissing her fiancé during a formal ceremony in congratulations and goodbye, a group of reservists that could have been high school students were it not for their cammo and combat boots- baby-faced and rosy-cheeked, a mother and father who were both being deployed and leaving behind their 4-year-old son and 13-month-old daughter in the care of family friends. Today, the reservists from the 332nd have been in Qatar for six months, and I constantly think of them and their families.

In an age where video games like Call of Duty and Halo desensitize kids to war and violence, how do I drive home to my children the sacrifices so many make? How do I help them understand that when soldiers are sent to war, it’s not a faceless super—soldier in high-tech invisible armor—but sons and daughters, husbands and wives, mothers and fathers?

I try to make it personal.

At first, it may seem my sons have no connection to the brave men and women who fought for our country in wars that occurred long before they, or even I, was born.

But they do.

During World War II their great-great-uncle stormed the beaches at Normandy, manned tanks in Germany and flushed out foxholes. At the same time, their great-grandfather was fighting for the Germans and was captured and sent to a Russian prison camp where he was released at the end of the war. Not to be forgotten and just as important, E and C’s great-grandmother worked in a factory making artillery shells for our military.

Vietnam found their grandfather stationed with his Army unit in Germany where he met their grandmother. Their great-uncle manned a missile silo in North Dakota. Another great-uncle was in Vietnam and, by the grace of God, made it back home.

I remember watching the missiles launch on TV in my eighth grade civics class during Desert Storm. My brother-in-law had a front row seat: He was a tank driver in the Army. They will tell you that war was mostly an air campaign, but the troops on the ground will tell you a different story. When my sons learned about their uncle’s adventures, they listened in awe.

Reading about soldiers and wars is a very different experience than standing in front of a family member who has lived it. I hope by sharing the experiences of their extended family, our boys will always remember how much respect and gratitude is due to those who serve in our armed forces.

For information on how you can help the reservists and their families, contact Melanie Hanshew, Family Readiness Coordinator for the 332nd at 251-802-5408.