Dave and I rode with a couple of other guys this morning, including one guy, Frank, with whom I work. Frank wanted to stop at the national cemetery in Calverton (SEE NOTE 1) to see his father's grave. Naturally, we said it was okay.
When I visit cemeteries, I have a variety of emotions and thoughts in my mind, many of which I have mentioned here when I have written about my ongoing cemetery history research. Military cemeteries, though, mostly fill me with rage, to the point where my eyes start to water.
Standing by the side of the road, with my riding jacket with US Army logos, digital camo, and an American flag on it, I looked out over just two of the many fields at Calverton, with those little white headstones going on and on and on, practically paving the fields. My thoughts turned immediately to the 4000-plus lives lost -- correction: wasted -- in Iraq. A bullshit "war" caused by a bullshit federal administration (SEE NOTE 2).
Yet on this day of remembrance, few will actually ponder the often-needless loss of life; the impact on families, neighborhoods and businesses; the actual horrors -- both physical and mental -- of war; or how our daily activities affect such things.
The remembrance services that do pretend to honor the dead overwhelmingly do so in a shallow, pedantic, faux-patriotic manner, adding insult to injury by invoking the sick, twisted violent mythology of a psychotic god-figure as somehow being inspirational.
A more appropriate memorial service would highlight the efforts of those who work for peace (yes, the people who actually would like to stop seeing people die for idiotic reasons), point out the mistakes of the past (and present) that have cost so many military members their lives, and point out the things we can do in our everyday lives to help decrease the carnage. There could be videos shown on big screens of dead and wounded military members -- this is a day to remember those people, right? If there was a need to have a religious invocation of any sort, how about using a religion that actually values peace (SEE NOTE 3)? Yes, in my admittedly-minority view of Memorial Day, we just might FEEL the loss and THINK about how it has happened and how we can decrease it.
As is, a majority of Memorial Day activities are a farce and an insult to those who have died as military representatives of the US. This holiday will continue to be such as long as we insist on cramming our heads up our asses and hoping the real world will go away if we just spend a few hundred billion more on "defense," put a magnet on our trunks, and ask a make-believe friend to favor our nation over all others.
Reality may be a bitch, but if we don't start to accept it soon, there may be no real estate left at Calverton when my time comes.
XXX
NOTE 1: Calverton is across the street from the abandoned Grumman airfield, where F-14s and A-6s used to thunder across the sky. I expect to be buried at Calverton. I had desired cremation until my longtime friend Joe (the vocalist in Juke House) noted that Uncle Sam owes us a little real estate for our military service and he was damn sure going to get his. I thought about it and decided, "Me too." With any luck, they'll bury me near Joe.
NOTE 2: Notice that I said "administration." My eight-plus years of military service left me with a taboo about criticizing a commander-in-chief, and I still struggle with that. Despite all that has happened, I still find that I must respect the office of the Presidency of the United States. I am such a tool.
NOTE 3: The only such religion of which I am aware is Buddhism, but I am open to suggestions for others.
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