(original link to post)
Please Don’t Tell Me to “Have a Great Memorial Day!
”
I tend to be quiet about being a veteran. I don't beat my chest or my drum. I don’t demand respect or gratitude. I don’t claim elevated status.
When someone thanks me for my service with cavalier sincerity and I suspect they don’t fully understand what they’re thanking me for, I don’t look at them funny or try to explain. I just trust they mean well and say, “You’re welcome.”
Except when it comes to Memorial Day.
I came through my decades of service and deployments unscathed, so when someone thanks me for my service on Memorial Day, I find myself biting my tongue to avoid saying, “I’m not dead. I made it home. It’s not my day.”
And when they say, “Have a great Memorial Day!”, it both sparks my ire and drives me to my knees. Perhaps because I left too many friends behind in Iraq and Afghanistan and did make it home unscathed.
It has begun this year. I just saw my first email, this one from an Audi dealer, announcing a "Month Long Celebration!" of great Memorial Day deals.
I try not to be a freak and don't have many buttons, but that's one of them. So I did that thing I do when words flow out of my fingertips, through a keyboard, onto a screen, and I hit Send.
*****
Mr. XXXXXX —
Good afternoon.
I’m writing with the best of intentions in response to your Audi dealership Memorial Day email and invite you and your staff to give a bit of thought to what Memorial Day is all about.
Much as it marks the start of summer for the nation and is viewed by many as a celebratory weekend, it is first and foremost a holiday set aside to memorialize (hence the name of the holiday) the men and women who gave their lives in service to our nation.
While I genuinely appreciate that Audi offers military discounts every day, it strikes me that “A Month Long Celebration” is a bit odd when it comes to memorializing our dead.
Should we remember our fallen service men and women fondly? Yes. Is it likely they’d want us to enjoy the life and freedom they gave their lives to preserve through start-of-summer bar-b-cues and get togethers with friends? I like to think so.
But would they want us to celebrate their deaths for a month? I certainly can’t speak for the fallen, but as a retired Marine veteran who left friends behind in Iraq and Afghanistan, I’m comfortable speaking for myself — and a month long celebration says to me at least that you and your team may be rather missing the point of Memorial Day.
Warm Regards,
Cliff W. Gilmore, PhD
Lieutenant Colonel, USMC (Ret.)
*****
Generally when I advise someone not to use a particular word or phrase, I recommend alternatives because, “Well, what should I say instead?” is a reasonable response.
When it comes to telling people not to say, “Happy Memorial Day!” or not to describe it as a celebratory event, I’m not inclined to provide an easy alternative though -- because taking the time to think about what the day means is kind of the purpose of the day.
So do please enjoy your Memorial Day. Kick off your summer by spending time with family, friends, and loved ones. Grill some steaks and dogs. Soak up a bit of sun. Toss a frisbee or football around.
Be happy.
Be grateful.
Celebrate life.
But don't tell me, “Have a great Memorial Day!” and thank me for my service.
Take the time to remember those who didn’t make it home from war alive -- and please, I beg of you, don’t turn Memorial Day into a month long marketing strategy of commercialized celebration to sell more stuff to those who did.
No comments:
Post a Comment