One of the questions from this past Fridays
was:
1. Do you think civilians, in general, understand the meaning of Memorial Day?
My answer:
"No, I do not".
Then I started to think of what Memorial Day meant to me.
And to me, it is the day we recognize our fallen hero's.
The soldiers and families who gave all.
Then I Wikipedia'd what Memorial Day was.
"Began as a ritual of remembrance and reconciliation after the civil war, by the early 20th century, Memorial Day was an occasion for more general expressions of memory, as ordinary people visited the graves of their deceased relatives, whether they had served in the military or not. It also became a long weekend increasingly devoted to shopping, family gatherings, fireworks, trips to the beach, and national media events such as the Indianapolis 500 (since 1911) and the Coca-Cola 600 (since 1960) auto races.[3]"
How sad I thought.
A day that started as a day of remembrance is also a "long weekend devoted to shopping".
Which brings me to my week at work.
In front of our Battalion we have a memorial for the fallen soldiers of the Engineer Battalion.
This memorial has so much symbolic meaning than I thought when I first saw it.
When my CSM brought three barriers home from Iraq last deployment,
and set them in front of the Battalion, I didn't understand how they would serve as our memorial.
So I asked him, and I got a deeper answer than I expected.
And it went something like this"
"Mrs. Mims, when you are down there, you are surrounded by these barriers.
Evey where you look, there they are, Its your home".
My chest tightened as he went on.
So this past Monday, the spouses of our Battalion gathered to
re beautify this special place in honor of them.
With care they pulled weeds and planted flowers.
Three of the Battalions FRLs laid the wreaths.
And many gathered to pay respect.
This memorial day,
I will not be shopping the specials in my PX or commissary.
I will be attending the Garrison memorial event, and spending the day
reflecting on what other soldiers and families sacrificed for me and my children.
What will you be doing?
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