“I do not celebrate Memorial Day”
I do not celebrate this one day
to commemorate the war dead.
I do not honor this one day
to remember their sacrifice.
No, I will not honor them
on this one day…
Instead, I honor the war dead,
the wounded, missing in action,
and those civilians killed and
wounded in war
every day.
Every day in my writing and art,
in my opposition to war as a means
to resolve difference.
Every day in my life and actions,
I endeavor to end the violence
in my life.
Every day I honor the war dead,
killed, missing in action, and every
civilian killed.
I honor and witness Memorial day,
every day
by working for peace.
Namaya – USN Vet
Poster on Coop Window
What is your opinion of the red, white, and blue, glofifying-war poster that was on the coop window, announcing that the coop would be closed for Memorial Day?
Poster
There is no image? All I can see is a photo of a young man in a uniform up above, is that it?
Yes, that was it. I don't
Yes, that was it. I don’t have time to reread the principles of cooperatives, but somewhow the promotion of war doesn’t seem like one of them.
Was this a promotion of war
Was this a promotion of war or just a memorial for a young Brattleboro man who lost his life serving? I see it as that and don’t have a problem with that. You can appreciate the lives given and lost without being a promoter or “fan” of war itself. And I am assuming that is the young man whose name is on the bridge the co-op is built adjacent to. Seems okay to me. I lost my first friend in Viet Nam and more recently another in Iraq and I don’t think remembering them in appreciation of their sacrificing of their lives means I’m supporting war.
One foot for war and one foot for peace
Namaya “Every day I honor the war dead…by working for peace”
How dreadful it is that any or all days are days to honor war dead. Each day that war is honored is another day that celebrates and perpetuates war. You shouldn’t fool yourself that you can both celebrate memorial day every day and work for peace.
One foot for war and one foot for peace means you go nowhere and the status quo of war is safe on the ground you stand on.
You can easily remember those
You can easily remember those who lost their lives serving and still not be “supporting” war. Does my friend who was drafted and died in Viet Nam at the age of 18 just months after arriving there not deserve remembrance. Of course he does. He wasn’t given a choice in the matter and he lost his life way too soon. We are not honoring war, we are thinking of those who we knew and loved that lost their lives in war and that means anyone who has lost their life not just soldiers.
Have you ever held a remembrance of him for his first kiss?
No, Rosa, you cannot “easily remember those who lost their lives serving and still not be “supporting” war.” The question of remembrance should be separate from serving in war, whether one dies from it or not. When you participate in the national memorial day you participate in national war. You cannot separate one from the other. Participating in war remembrance is supporting war.
Those of us who lost people we care about for any reason usually have a lot of reasons for remembrances, but we don’t give each of those reasons a “national” holiday. Neither should we make a national holiday for war deaths.
It’s bad enough that humans cannot live in peace without war but when was the last time we celebrated a peace holiday? We cannot perpetuate peace as long as we monumentalize, memorialize and sentimentalize the perpetuance of war.
If you want to remember your friend who was forced to go to war against his own will, what makes you think he appreciates your “remembrance.” Did he ask you to “please remember me for dying in this war?” Even if he did, maybe he would like to be remembered more for those things he did in peacetime. Have you ever held a national remembrance of him for his first kiss?
He didn't die because of his
He didn’t die because of his first kiss. He died because of wounds suffered in Viet Nam. And no, Vidda, I have no idea whether he appreciates my remembrance or not but he does come to mind on Memorial Day. Does that mean my thinking of him means I supported that war. No. Of course not. Remembering those who passed in war whether they were in service or civilian victims doesn’t mean we are sentimentalizing or memorializing the perpetuance of war. In fact it can mean quite the opposite. We can keep in mind those who are gone because of the futility and unnecessary loss that war brings. It’s not a reach. For me at least.
"That War"
I didn’t say you supported “that” war, Rosa. If you really think that I’m talking about “those who are gone because of the futility and unnecessary loss “that” war” brought, then we are riding different horses on the merry-go-round.
But your first sentence, “He didn’t die because of his first kiss” show we are from different planets.
Vidda: You said: "Have you
Vidda: You said: “Have you ever held a national remembrance of him for his first kiss?”
And you said: “We cannot perpetuate peace as long as we monumentalize, memorialize and sentimentalize the perpetuance of war.” My point is you aren’t memorializing the perpetuance of war by remembering those who have perished in or because of war. You said the two can’t be disconnected. I think they can.
The titans of age
I’m engaged but will reply to Rosa, soonest, if not sooner…
Rosa, my dear almost contemporary - If you continue to believe
I said nothing about death in the remembrance of his first kiss. However, I must give that there can be no agreement here about what I said, “We cannot perpetuate peace as long as we monumentalize, memorialize and sentimentalize the perpetuance of war.” If you continue to believe you “aren’t memorializing the perpetuance of war by remembering those who have perished in or because of war” then I will cannot shake you from that which you dare to presume to be true.
Perhaps it is you who dares
Perhaps it is you who dares to presume what is the truth or not. I don’t judge others, I am just stating my own feelings. Your kiss comment was just plain pointless in regards to the topic.