Memorial Day thoughts

In the United States we celebrate Memorial Day today, where we commemorate military service people who have died. Our other holiday-Veteran's Day-commemorates those still living. This is also considered the first of the summer recreational holidays, encompassing the whole weekend. The war dead would not begrudge those who use this day for family and recreation activities. After all, service people died so that their families, communities and countries could live. They would be the first to urge the living to enjoy this traditional "beginning of summer" holiday.

I applaud, however, people who give some thought to retaining at least some of the solemnity of this day. In general I think people are really good at that. Organized sports has been great, traditionally, in acknowledging the solemnity of those whose memory should be honored, even as people gather to have fun. And of course people must always remember and pray for the service people who are living, who are often in harm's way, and could in a fatal moment become one of those memorialized. So even though this is Memorial Day, I'd thank a living soldier or service member today if you know one. Their job and vocation constantly places them on the boundary between Veteran's Day and Memorial Day.

It is also never too late to pray for someone who is deceased. God never allows prayers to be wasted. A prayer, a rosary, or dedicating a Mass to the deceased does a world of good for more than just one soul. This could be someone recently deceased or even historical. People could pray for those new Americans who died in the creation of our country, for example, those who served under General George Washington. You can pray for the souls of the deceased without knowing their names (God knows who they are) and while you are at it, thank God for those who loved their country and their neighbors so dearly that they gave their lives giving birth, in a matter of speaking, to this nation. Even if the soldier "is already in heaven," as I said, prayers are never wasted and bestow great grace on the greater good and community of humans.

I am fortunate in that the men of my immediate family who served in conflicts all returned alive. The one exception is my brother's father, who was a German police officer drafted into Hitlers' army. He died in an ambush just after learning he had become a father. He was not a Nazi, he was a small town cop who like others were the first swept up for Hitler's new war machine. He was a religious Catholic who only wanted to be back on the farm with his new bride (my mother) and his newborn son (my brother). He was killed along with comrades of his as they sent mail back home. His letter, expressing delight over the birth of his son, arrived after my mother received the news that he had died.

So even though Memorial Day is an American holiday today, I think about and pray for this good man who while forced to fight on the wrong side, did not have an enemy identification problem, like so many do today. He fought so that his family would not be arrested. Many who were in Hitler's army were there because their families would have been persecuted had they refused. And so it goes.

One final thought. We have Memorial Day and Veteran's Day. But I think we will need Walking Wounded Day. So many are saved from life destroying injuries, yet come home terribly wounded. Others have experienced traumas as have their forefathers and mothers in World War I, World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam Conflict, and now Iraq. We need to do more to create a safety net for service people and their families. I know many hear this calling and have done quite a bit, such as the Fisher House (www.fisherhouse.org) and other charitable services for the wounded. But there is an enormous unmet need for ongoing, substantial support of service people and their families. This should not be a political or a "do gooder grandstanding" issue. Their services should be soberly and comprehensively planned and implemented by salt of the earth well grounded honest people.

I hope this will happen and in the meantime, urge all of you to find time for a prayer to these intentions of mine and make them your own.