To all the men and women who have served this country, to their families, and to the ones we have lost, my thoughts are with you on this Memorial Day. This day is not about barbecues or beach openings or sales. Especially sales.
But I wasn’t always this clear on the holiday.
I came across this tweet on Friday from a veteran I follow (warning, strong language, though I suspect not a one of you is faint of heart):
And suddenly, like a lens coming into focus, I realized how grotesque it is that we mark a day for honoring our fallen veterans with discounted goods.
Yikes.
Did it just hit you in the gut too? Good, it probably should, as it did me. How blithe we can be; how oblivious. The day before I saw COB’s tweet, I was giddy over what I had gotten for a steal.
In a Memorial Day sale.
Break it down and it’s like something out of a far-future novel, something sprung from the mind of Ray Bradbury, a time where capitalism is so ubiquitous, so domineering that even men and women killed in service to our country are remembered with a hearty 50% off regular price.
So whatever you do with your day today, please take a moment to remember why we really have it. Thank you to the women and men who serve.
A Bit to Read 
I’ll buy that
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I’m not there for any kind of Memorial Day shindig – family, veteran, or otherwise. (If it was my family, both.) But walking on My Khe beach in Da Nang this morning, and last night, and any other day lately, I can’t help but wonder how it looked to the soldiers dropping off. Da Nang was the northernmost US military outpost during the Vietnam war, I think.
Memorial Day is supposed to remember those who died. Let’s pause to think of what they died for.
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I think you had the most appropriate kind of Memorial Day.
Such a place of sacrifice. Such a sad, sad war.
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p.s. Here, it’s called “The American War”. Food for thought.
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That makes total sense.
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