Thread: A Reflection on the meaning of Memorial Day, 2008

I watched the national Memorial Day concert from Washington DC last night, and think I might want to attend it next year. This year’s concert was filled with poignant tributes to the fallen, with reference made to all of the nation’s conflicts, of course, but highlighting our losses in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Robert E. Lee once said “It is well that war is so terrible, lest we become too fond of it.”

As a war vet myself, I understand his words better than some might. While I’ve been spared some of the worst trauma, others I know were not and I’ve witnessed, up close, what happens when people stop talking and start shooting. It isn’t at all the glory filled experience portrayed in the movies. That does not diminish the importance, of course, of those who fought in war, particularly the sacrifice of those who “gave all.”

The “greatest generation” truly deserved that title, as they most probably saved civilization as we know and understand it. We’d all be in chains today were it not for them.

In Korea and Viet Nam, we were told our soldiers were trying to stem the tide of communist expansionism. Later reflection cast some doubt on that, but, again, it does not diminish the sacrifice made by our people in uniform.

Since then we’ve invaded Grenada and Panama, ejected Saddam’s forces from Kuwait and are now engaged in conflicts in both Afghanistan and Iraq. There is a recurring fear that we may be drawn into conflict with either Iran or North Korea or both.

On this Memorial Day, this vet once again ponders the words of General Robert E. Lee and finds himself wondering if we, as a nation, have become all too willing to resort to armed conflict to solve our problems. Have we become too “fond” of war?

In his farewell address to America in 1960, then President (and former General) Dwight D. Eisenhower warned us about something called the “military-industrial complex,” saying, in essence, that there is a segment of our society that finds armed conflict to be beneficial, profitable, if you will. Remember, this was the former Commander of allied forces in Europe during World War II, a man who knew war, its causes and its consequences. If anyone would be knowledgeable of this, President Eisenhower would be the one.

I don’t question the validity of the heroic sacrifice made by members of our armed forces and their families, past, present or future and don’t doubt our need to defend ourselves and our way of life.

But on this Memorial Day 2008, I just have to wonder if we have forgotten the wisdom spoken by men like Robert E. Lee and Dwight D. Eisenhower. And it bothers me.

William R. Toth
Major, USAR
(retired)