PFC Percy Eugene Green (My Dad)
It was very hard to write anything humorous about Memorial Day but it was made even more difficult to write anything at all, knowing that due to a terribly evil and mentally disturbed pile of human debris decided that 19 children won’t hug their parents and grandparents this holiday weekend or ever again. My heart broke just as it did at Sandy Hook a few years back and I have concluded that no matter what laws are passed, you will never stop evil when evil wants to be evil. I will pray for and remember the 19 children and two teachers that died at the hands of evil this week and include them in all my Memorial Day memories. I will also hug my Grand-baby’s with the gusto and enthusiasm that I always do but I will be more appreciative than ever.
This is the Memorial Day weekend, a weekend of deliciously greasy hamburgers and succulent hot dogs heated up to perfection on grills and stoves all across the fruited plains. A time to get together with friends and family, drink a few beers and hopefully remember a loved one that fought in a past war but before I celebrated this one I wanted to know the full scope of the holiday.
Not long after the civil war ended and the country was still trying to reconcile the loss of over 620,000 American men, where brother fought against brother, father fought against son, cousins fought against cousins, all while trying to decide if all men were truly created equal, the Decoration Day was born. That number of dead men is staggering for any time frame but I did a little more research and was astounded to find out that 620,000 was roughly 2% of the United States Population back then. It was also astounding that 2% of today’s population would be roughly 6 Million. You catch that? Theoretically speaking, 6 million souls would be lost if we repeated a civil war.
The holiday was created and designed to help heal the still festering wounds brought about by a bloody war that left many women without husbands, fathers and mothers without sons and entire families torn asunder by the divisiveness of fiery, hateful political rhetoric and foolishness. Foolishness, brought about by the intellectually deficient propensity to judge a person by their skin color as opposed to their character that is possessed inside the thin multicolored casing (skin) that God chose for each of us. It’s a good thing we moved passed race in today’s society…
I seriously can’t trace my lineage to any participants in the civil war, I am sure it’s possible but I really don’t care. I am certain that having most of my family roots in the south, it’s a good chance that someone in my family, both paternal and maternal wore the gray. I also can’t trace my lineage to the French and Indian war, the war of 1812, the Spanish American war or the Revolutionary war. Maybe it’s important and maybe I should try to find out those things, but honestly, I really don’t care.
You see, I know who I am, I am an American, there is no doubt about that. I know of no other familial heritage other than the fact that I was proudly born in the USA and I deeply love my country. I am grateful that I can fly my flag and say the pledge of allegiance and I don’t serve a dictator or even serve a King or Queen. I am grateful that I can go to the church of my choosing or not go to church at all. I am appreciative and grateful for all those that fought in those previously mentioned wars, faced the bullets and bombs and shed the blood so that I could live, breathe free and… have a hotdog and cold beer this weekend.
My father was a Korean War veteran, I have family members that were Viet Nam Veterans, World War II veterans. The number of men and women that can explain in first hand detail what the battle of the Bulge, Iwo Jima or Normandy was truly like is inevitably dwindling rapidly and that is heartbreaking in itself. The greatest generation is just a few years away from extinction. So, When you see them now, so old, so feeble, needing assistance to accomplish the simplest of tasks, remember them as they were then, proud, strong, dedicated, sacrificial and patriotic and if the mood strikes you, say thanks, offer a helping hand, offer a hug, but if that’s not your style, just REMEMBER THEM, as we are supposed to do on Memorial Day.