Remember today those we have lost

5/28/07
The list of names keeps getting longer.
At least 3,400 American troops have died in Iraq since that war started in 2003. Regardless of anyone’s opinion of the war — how we got there, why we went in, how long we’ll be there — Americans can’t help but mourn the lives lost. The men and women, many of them young people, are lost forever; they join the long list of our nation’s war dead, and we remember them today.
Memorial Day dates back to our own Civil War, when many communities set aside a day to remember soldiers lost in that epic conflict. Originally known as Decoration Day, the final Monday in May was acknowledged as a time to honor fallen Union soldiers; it was later expanded to remember all men and women who died in military service to their country.
The event takes on special poignancy during a time of war, when new names are added every day to the ranks of dead service members. A person need not favor continuing the war in Iraq to wish the best for our citizens in that country, and a person who wants to see an end to the death and violence doesn’t necessarily favor ending the war. We all support the troops, we all wish them well, we all want them home as soon as possible.
These facts are too easily forgotten. Just last week, at a celebration honoring the graduating class at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in New London, certain groups of protesters took disagreement over the war to new levels of ugliness. Even in matters of war and peace, there is a common humanity, and a value to each opinion. Even when emotions run highest, we must resist the temptation to demonize people with opposing viewpoints.
The truth is that no one knows the future of our war effort in Iraq, and hardly anyone even knows the present. When we reduce our support or opposition to name-calling or worse, when reasoned argument is replaced by calls of "hippie" or "warmonger" or "commie," no one gains, least of all the people actually fighting the war. Today, at least, put away the jingoism and oversimplification and remember what we’ve lost.
Put away the idea that anti-war people don’t support the troops. "Support the troops" has been used as a bludgeon to accuse anyone parting from the official Washington line of being unpatriotic. It’s not true, it’s unfair and it’s out of line.
Put away the notion that anyone in favor of the war has been brainwashed by the media, or is too dumb to know any better. There is room for legitimate disagreement on both sides, from every perspective, and no one gains by belittling the political opposition, least of all the people in harm’s way.
But setting aside the pettiness of war-related fistfights is not the same as foregoing dissent. It is the right and duty of Americans to question what their country is doing, to take their officials to task when they get their facts wrong or spin lies to get their message out. It says nothing about a person’s concern for troops in the field, or memory of those who have died, for that person to demand answers, and demand a change of course. An active, questioning citizenry has been essential to our nation’s history and will forever be necessary to keep our country strong.
The people who have died are never coming back. They have lost their ability to speak for themselves, to question the country’s goals and motivations. When we speak out in matters of war, no matter our opinion, we speak in no small part for the people who no longer can.
It has been argued that politics has no place on Memorial Day, and those who violate that unwritten rule can pay a serious price. It would be nice if such a rule also applied to our increasingly commercialized, advertising-saturated society. Remembering dead troops has nothing to do with mattress sales, and the day means more than a good excuse for a barbecue. We would do well as citizens to keep that in mind, even for a few moments.
Today is for those we have lost, present and past, in military service to this country. It’s not too much to ask to take a day and honor their memories.