Did you know Memorial Day was originally called Decoration Day? As in, a day to go decorate the graves of the fallen. I imagine there was a time where the cemeteries actually had a pretty good turn out of families on hand to pay their respects and see that the graves were kept clean. Especially since during the Civil War - the war for which Decoration Day was dedicated - between 10-30% of the male population was killed, depending on which side you were on. But luckily for our generation it's pretty unusual to actually know someone killed in combat. So the day has morphed into a freebie... more notable for the dusting off of white pants than for the dusting off of tombstones.
In all fairness, I did bust out some white pants this weekend. But I dedicated some of my usual reverie to the fallen. The closest I am ever going to get to the hell of war will be through gritty depictions in books and movies. Lately these depictions are becoming more and more horrific in their detail (and their effects). I watch some of these and wonder how did anyone actually survive? And if you did, how did you manage to function at all once it was over?
We hung a flag at our house yesterday. You don't see too many stars and stripes in Berkeley (we give ours a local flavor by hanging it on a homemade flagpole made out of a bamboo pole cut from our backyard).
It's the least we can do for those who gave everything.
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I need to correct this to say 10-30% of the male population between the ages of 18-45. You know, the warrior crowd.
ReplyDeleteHave you seen Stop Loss? (I'm a closet Ryan Phillipe fan.) More realistic Iraq war scenes than Hurt Locker. Grim. I agree, it's impossible to stay sane after war and that's probably why so many GI girlfriends are getting murdered these days. Case in point: Tairy's uncle Jerry, two tours, Nam.
ReplyDeleteI look forward to reading your posts. You should brand this more on yourself - how about South Birkley Dispatch??!! It's not so easy to comment here - you may wish to educate your more analog followers. You can't just type & post.
By the way - you can wear white after Easter according to Gloria Vanderbilt and East coast tradition. It's Labor day when you have to shelve the white again... unless you live in Santa Barbara.
June is bored - gotta go.