The Other 364 Days

Memorial Day in the United States—observed on the last Monday in May—is dedicated to honoring service men and women who died while serving in the military. In Washington, D.C., there are many things people do during the three-day holiday weekend to pay tribute. As a veteran, I think it's important to take one day out of our lives to do this.

In recent years a nostalgia for yesteryear in the US has developed, a longing for simpler times when things were more clear—more black and white—than they are today. The recent political climate suggests that returning to Mayberry—a make-believe place that exists only in Hollywood—would be ideal in the minds of some. While I respectfully disagree with this misguided sentiment, there is one aspect of days long ago that does need to be resurrected.

In the past, going to war was a last resort, entered with great reluctance and after long consideration. Most Americans would agree that the Revolutionary War, Civil War, and World Wars I and II were worth fighting. They were a true call for freedom from oppression. Statesmen of days past entered war cautiously after evaluating the intended and unintended consequences of actions to be or not to be taken.

Since World War II, however, the pendulum of war has swung to the other extreme. Since 1947, the US has reactively entered numerous wars that have annihilated millions of lives and left many survivors and their families irreparably damaged mentally, physically, and emotionally.

The Roman revival of patriotic duty is a call to preserve democracy around the world, a sound bite spoon-fed to Americans that demonizes unpatriotic war protestors and peace seekers. Symbolically, US military men and women are deemed heroes, honored at every turn—penance for Vietnam because after all, it was not their fault; they did their patriotic duty.

In five years, the US will have been in Afghanistan as long as Vietnam, and what, if anything, has changed except the call for more warring? The US has been fighting wars on two fronts since 2003; three since 2014, with no end in sight. When will Americans say, enough is enough?

As a veteran—and a patriot—I encourage you to honor the fallen and pay tribute this Memorial Day. And on Tuesday, when your lives go back to not thinking about the aftermath of shattered lives and fallen airmen, coast guardsmen, marines, sailors, and soldiers for another 364 days, ask yourself, who's fighting for peace?