May 27, 2013
The blog today is quoted from an article by John Marshall that appeared in the Duluth Daily News – Click here for his poem.
“Memorial Day is the most hallowed of all days of remembrance acknowledged by veterans. It allows us to reflect on the ultimate sacrifice those killed in combat selflessly made for every American citizen throughout our nation’s history. We remember those lives that were never lived.
“Since this great nation formed 237 years ago, more than 1.2 million men and women have served and given their lives in its defense. Even though we live in an imperfect world and an imperfect nation, all these soldiers gave up all their tomorrows for our todays because they believed in the greatness of this country and the potential it always has had.
“I would like to share the end of President Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, because he specifically addressed the sacrifices made by our soldiers and what they fought for. He said, ‘We here highly resolve that the dead shall not have died in vain, that the nation shall, under God, have a new birth of freedom, and that governments of the people, by the people, and for the people shall not perish from the Earth.’
“As someone who has experienced and witnessed the carnage of war and who has seen the worst of humanity, I cannot help but be saddened because I know every soldier killed in a combat situation leaves this world knowing anger, fear, guilt, shame, sorrow, pain, anxiety, grief, confusion, sadness and a gamut of other emotions. I, too, survived a war and live with the scarred emotions every day of my life. I will until I take my very last breath.
“So I ask you, on Memorial Day weekend, do we not owe our fallen veterans the respect they so rightly deserve by remembering them? For they left this world seeing the absolute worst of mankind.
“It is my hope, especially in light of recent events, that we as a nation take one day out of the year to remember them. Please consider this as we celebrate this special holiday.”
John Marshall is captain of the Duluth Honor Guard.