Since 2002, we have celebrated Memorial Day with the sons and daughters of our country fighting abroad, first in Afghanistan and then in Iraq. And every day that passes, it seems the media reports less and less about these wars.
As a reminder, Memorial Day evolved from Decoration Day, started in 1868 as a day to decorate the graves of those who died in America’s Civil War. But it was not until 1971 that Congress declared Memorial Day a national holiday, one to be celebrated on the last Monday in May. Monday is also Confederate Memorial Day in Virginia.
Traditionally, on Memorial Day either the president or vice president gives a speech at Arlington National Cemetery and also lays a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. What will the official word be this year?
Given that America’s armed forces remain entangled in the Middle East, consider reviewing this justification for the war from About’s Guide to Terrorism, Amy Zalman. Unlike WWI and WWII, we Americans have not been asked to sacrifice at home. A different form of sacrifice is fast approaching, with oil knocking at $150 a barrel, and its rise in price is linked to our foreign wars.
Last year (2007), US Foreign Policy Guide Keith Porter reflected on the Vietnam Memorial, and the “imaginary line marking the spot in time” when the American consensus was that the war was “unwinnable.” When the Iraq War memorial is built, where will that imaginary line lie? Have we crossed it?
It is five years later and too little has changed.
The nation’s longest war (we’ve been in Afghanistan longer than the Soviet Union in their war) has long moved off the front page.
Gas prices in the former states of the Confederacy average less than $3.50 according to GasBuddy but push $4.00 on the west coast.
On the subject of “should we have?” the nation remains divided. Research from Pew conducted earlier this year showed that 44% think the decision to use force in Iraq was wrong; 41% think it was right. Margin of error at 95% confidence: 3.9%. In other words, too close to call.
Regardless of our feelings toward this military action, we have a responsibility to the men and women we sent into harms way in our name. The numbers are staggering:
Over the past 12 years, about 2.5 million members of the Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, Coast Guard and related Reserve and National Guard units have been deployed in Afghanistan and Iraq, according to Department of Defense data. Of those, more than a third were deployed more than once. Nearly 37,000 have been deployed more than five times, and 400,000 service members have reportedly done three or more deployments.
The VA is struggling with disability claims and an enormous backlog. Suicide rates among active servicemen and vets are troublesome. And there’s public attention finally being given to victims of sexual assault.
Remember this — the words of William T. Sherman and the pain of this latest war and post-war reintegration — when the next U.S. leader declares that the only solution to an international problem is a show of force.
Known for gnawing at complex questions like a terrier with a bone. Digital evangelist, writer, teacher. Transplanted Southerner; teach newbies to ride motorcycles. @kegill (Twitter and Mastodon.social); wiredpen.com