Memorial Day, 2010 - A Day to Remember Significant People

As the proprietor of Sippican Cottage says,

Have a pleasant Memorial Day.
Try not to forget what it's about.

On his program this morning, Dennis Prager talked about the struggle which civilized nations face in finding a balance between (1) preserving the idea of the sanctity of human life and (2) determining when it is worthwhile to risk lives, as in war, police work, etc. Donald Sensing touched on similar issues in the preamble to an essay for Memorial Day, on "Courage."

Dennis also suggested this morning that a nation which loses its memories is as inwardly dead as a person who loses all his memories. Commemorating major holidays is one way to preserve a "national memory" and the sense of a common background and purpose.

Communist theory recognized the importance of memory to national cohesiveness. One major goal of many communists and socialists (even the non-violent ones) has been the eradication of common memories and interpersonal connections. Pol Pot was so successful at eradicating memory that almost no one in Cambodia knew how to grow food after the educated were slaughtered in the Killing Fields. Everyone who understood what needed to be done had been killed or had fled. Even farmers were considered a threat to the perfect new civilization. Pol Pot came very close to his goal of starting his new civilization at "year zero". We are so fortunate in this country never to have faced a similar situation. Though we have had our trials. And we face a less-drastic loss of our heritage by ignoring the reasons for national holidays in favor of shopping.

The everyday people in the video linked at Sippican Cottage above remind me of something else Dennis Prager says:

The famous are seldom great and the great are seldom famous.

or, sometimes, in terms of personal influence on people's lives:

The famous are not significant and the significant are not famous.

These are real, significant people, coping in often-heroic (and sometimes, persistently courageous) ways with terrible situations.  There's an evocative, personal story spanning decades here.

Another video in which you might find some things to think about. Listen to the words of the song.

Here's another. Featuring some of the good guys.

Captain Ed quotes President Reagan concerning the meaning of Memorial Day, and reminds us that not everyone "celebrates" on this day. Lots of nice links to other thoughts on this significant day, when we remember courageous, significant people who were lost and other courageous, significant people who were left behind. Here's one of them.

Kids sing "Thank You". Want to show some adult appreciation? Try one of the organizations linked here.