Reflecting on Memorial Day

Marco Islanders joined the rest of the nation on Memorial Day to pay our respects to those who have fallen in battle defending our nation. The Island’s American Legion Post 404 hosted the event at Veteran’s Community Park.

Over the years, Marco Island had been very lucky to have two fine organizations serving veterans. First, the local VFW Post 6370 was opened to all military members who have served honorably in a combat theatre overseas. The American Legion established a post on March 11, 2014, which was open to all veterans who have served, whether in a combat theatre or not. 

The Memorial Day and Veterans Day Service were previously hosted by the battle-worn members of the VFW Post before it was absorbed into the Golden Gate VFW Post. Many of those older members of the Marco VFW Post found it difficult to make that trek in the dark due to declining health, and some joined the new American Legion Post.

We still have a few of those World War II Veterans here on the island, as well as those from the Korean conflict and all conflicts since then. The American Legion Post was a welcomed creation after losing the VFW Post that had done so much. Lee Rubenstein, who had served in the VFW, was a driving force in creating the American Legion Post 404 and welcomed attendees to the Memorial Day event.

It’s unfortunate, however, that many tend to associate Memorial Day as being the same as Veterans Day, regardless of the efforts to educate the public regarding the differences. Veterans Day is a celebration of the men and women who have honorably served our nation in uniform over the years, whether it be active duty, Reservist, or National Guard.

Memorial Day was actually borne out of a desire to honor the dead from the Civil War, and then after the end of World War I, it was changed to Memorial Day to honor all fallen soldiers of our nation, regardless of the conflict. 

World War 1 raged from the summer of 1914 to the fall of 1918, resulting in over 53,400 U.S. casualties. A total of 16 million deaths and 20 million civilian and military personnel were wounded during that war, making it one of the deadliest conflicts ever known to mankind.

Moina Belle Michael spearheaded a long and difficult effort to have the red poppy declared the national flower of remembrance, and in 1922 the Veterans of Foreign Wars was the first veteran’s organization to sell the now iconic flower to remember all those who gave their lives. The flower served as the catalyst for the penning of the now-famous poem “In Flanders Fields” by John McCrae.

The proceeds from those sales go to veterans services by the VFW National Organization.

Unfortunately, most now “celebrate” the day without more than a casual thought to the purpose or meaning of the holiday and see it as a day off from work or school. Hopefully, you took the time on Monday to speak to your grandchild, child, or just a stranger and had the opportunity to say thank you to those brave men and women who served, so we might continue to live a life so many aspire to all around the world where freedom is not so abundant.

During my adolescence, Memorial Day was always seen as a somber day of remembrance. A day when Americans went to cemeteries and placed flags or flowers on the graves of our war dead. It was a day to remember our family members and loved ones who gave the ultimate sacrifice. It was not a weekend for special deals on mattresses or cars but a day on which we showed respect to those names etched on stones throughout memorials and those somber places of final rest.

You see, Memorial Day should be one which is observed every day we take a breath in this great nation. It shouldn’t be a single day out of the year where we buy cars or mattresses. Instead, It is the reason we live in this great nation and can take that breath of air without fear of tyranny, dictatorships, and the loss of liberties that we take for granted every day.

This is a day not owed to actors in movies you watch on the big screen or politicians who send them into battle. It is a day we owe to men and women such as Otto Perry, Marc Decoteau, Nicole Gee, or Lori Piestewa. These are the names of actual casualties who have died in battles from World War II to the conflict within Afghanistan throughout the years. From small towns like Plymouth, New Hampshire, to the Hopi Indian Reservation in Tuba City, Arizona. 

We continue living in a nation that is seen as a true “Shining City on a Hill” by so many around the world due to the sacrifices of those in uniform, which I just mentioned. Think about those names every day you take that breath of liberty or lie under that blanket of freedom they have provided you through their sacrifices.