If not for the soldier,
Their training and valor,
Pushing themselves beyond every thought of self,
Our personal losses would be too many to count.
As gratitude pours out, a bowed head in thanks or raised in salute,
May their final act never be forgotten in this generation or the next.
P.S. Join me in prayer for our country state by state on my new YouTube channel. Three videos up so far!
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Beautiful words.
Thank you, Deanne. I am so glad you stopped by.
Since 2006, I have been traveling to Millis, Mass., a small town 40 miles away, to participate in Memorial Day ceremonies. When I first went, I joined four other Civil War reenactor musicians (fifes and drums) to escort the American Legion Post 208 members to the various sites in this small town of only a few thousand citizens. Of course, the police, fire, and rescue departments participated, as well as the Boy Scout troop and Cub Scout pack, most of them engaged in shifting seating and podiums and sound equipment in advance of the parade.
The parade was about 1.5 miles, broken by stops at each place – at Prospect Hill Cemetery, at a monument at the library, another at the town hall, and at a small memorial park in front of the American Legion hall. The short service at each site, accompanied by music from the high school band, a local chorale group, our small fife-and-drum company, and a bugler from the Boston symphony Orchestra, was well done. The typical readings of “In Flanders Field,” “The Gettysburg Address,” General Logan’s official establishment of the observance in 1868, and a decree from the governor were and are always included, interspersed with keynote speeches by local veterans, always pertinent and moving.
Over these past 18 years, American Legion membership has shrunk as veterans have passed away. (Many of them were WWII veterans when I began attending, and with fewer wars of magnitude, there are fewer veterans to join the Legion or the Veterans of Foreign Wars.) All the other musicians have aged out, died, or become too infirm to march. The parade has become shorter and shorter, partly because most of the town’s memorials have been relocated to the lawn in front of the town hall. And yet, I still attend. This year, my rope-tension snare drum and I were inaugurated into the high school band, whose modern marching beat is nearly twice the beat of the days of the Civil War. But I picked up their cadence quickly and it was fun to hang out with these teenagers, who didn’t seem the least bit bored by the whole thing.
I think that’s part of what brings me back, year after year. I’ve become good friends with many of these people. The ceremony is consistently well attended by the citizens, which means a lot to the veterans who organize and attend it. The keynote speakers are always emotionally engaged with their topics, and often reveal much depth behind the meaning of the day. It has become a highlight of my year, to provide this small service to those who willingly offered themselves and everything they had to protect and preserve me and mine, our values, our integrity, and our nation.
They don’t ask for much. What they do ask for is that they are not forgotten, or that what they did – and why – is never forgotten.
Sally, I love the way you engage with those around you. You have marched a rich history that you depict as changing slowly, but significantly changing. And here you and your friend are welcomed into the high school band, a shift in the tribute, and that is good. The younger generation has to pick up the lead. Thank you for this beautiful testament to honoring those who we must never forget.