In Memoriam Fratres Mei

I have heard a lot of folks, mainly veterans, families of veterans, families of fallen, and a lot of other good people making comments and postings on the meaning of Memorial Day.  Many times admonishing the great majority of Americans for their failure to comprehend what this holiday is really about.

I understand this, I deeply understand this, because although by the grace of God I havent lost anyone in my immediate family, the last ten years have been very difficult on my surrogate family, The Marine Corps Bomb Disposal Community. I share this sense of loss.

It can be frustrating to know in your heart that the vast majority of Americans would have a challenging time locating Afghanistan or Iraq on a map let alone truly understanding what went on in those places and what that meant to many people.

To those families I would say, don’t be saddened or beleaguered by the blissful ignorance of others.  Seek strength and resolve in it.  Your loved ones, selfless and immensely brave, knew and understood and still chose to push forward into the fray, to stand side by side with their brothers and bestow the greatest gift a young man or woman can give to the American people ……their courage.

I recently went down to EOD School in Ft Walton Beach FL to attend the annual EOD Memorial ceremony where the names of those that were lost this past year are inscribed on a large monolithic stone along with the names of the many heroes who passed away over the years, killed in the performance of their duties.

Needless to say the list of names has grown exponentially over the last decade.

This year I was there to help place the name of one of my young Marines on that stone.

If I never have to do that again it will still be too soon.

It was a sobering experience, as it is each time I go, not just because the name of a young man who I knew and worked closely with was included on the wall, but because a very large number of young Bomb Technicians who have survived the most serious of injuries also attend to pay their respects.

I will never get comfortable looking into the faces of those families who have lost their sons, husbands and brothers. I will never know whether I was saying the right things or if I was being strong enough for them or if my simple presence caused them pain and unhappiness.

If there is never another reason for me to see  a bereaved family ever again in my career I will be perfectly content.

Each of our young Marines, Soldiers, Sailors, and Airmen that has passed away was brilliantly special in their own way, each made life better for others around them, and made us better people for having known them.  I could spend hours discussing each that I knew, their unique sense of humor, their personal quirks and idiosyncrasies …. their loves and hates … their selflessness … their heroism.

To the families of those that have lost, I say don’t be angered by what may seem like the willful ignorance of others.  As we all well know life is devastatingly short.  If people take the opportunity presented to them by Memorial Day to gather and share with one another than that is a good thing. Even if they haven’t the first real clue about why they are getting together, and that chance to enjoy each other is provided to them on the backs of those that have given their lives and those who try day in and day out to adjust to an existence without those they cared about most.

I would ask the people of this nation to jump at the chance to bring in the summer this Monday next. Bath in the sunshine and shower each other with much love, camaraderie and good feelings, but as you reach into that cooler to grab that ice-cold beverage, or methodically adjust that perfectly cooked burger with just the right amount of condiment to make it even more perfect.  Or even if you just choose to relax and do nothing except watch the Twilight Zone Marathon on TV, take just a few seconds.  Not very long, just a little time and direct your thoughts and maybe a moment or two of silence to those young men and women who demonstrated so much intestinal fortitude and left all that they love behind to stand up for something they believe in and to shroud the rest of us in the warm blanket we call life at home.

Happy Memorial Day

Just me talking

MGunns