HOME :: PUBLICATIONS :: On This Memorial Day, by CHET NAGLE

On This Memorial Day

by CHET NAGLE May 27, 2012
"From now until the end of the world, we and it shall be remembered.
We few, we Band of Brothers. For he who sheds his blood with me shall be my brother." 
William Shakespeare (King Henry V)
 
There is a chain made of blood and iron. The heavy links are anchored in Valley Forge and stretch through Gettysburg, Normandy, Iwo Jima, the Coral Sea, and a thousand battlegrounds. New links are being forged now in the streets of Baghdad and Kabul.
 
On this Memorial Day, in cemeteries from Flanders to Arlington, we place flags on graves to honor warriors who made and guard that great chain. On this Memorial Day we feel the chain near us, vibrating with its awesome power—pointing to a future that promises more blood and iron.
 
We know that men and women are in the hallowed ground because they swore an oath to defend our nation and to uphold the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic. Many gave up their lives to that purpose.
 
Soldiers, sailors and airmen who have gone before, and who serve now, have always obeyed the commands of civilians elected to high office. Today, the highest of those officials have never worn a uniform. They have never gone in harm’s way, they have never known a soldier’s fear, and they will never engage in deadly defense of the republic. Even so, those officials have also sworn an oath to protect the nation and the Constitution. So the soldiers obey.
 
But those who fell in great battles and in places with forgotten names are still on guard. If America’s leaders betray their solemn oaths, our fallen guardians will stir in their resting places; from jungles and deserts and ocean deeps, from one end of the earth to the other, they will rise.
 
In the dawn of that future Memorial Day I will hear footfalls of my risen brothers in arms beneath my window. They will march on the city, and above them there will be whispers of more phantoms in parachutes. Then they will assemble in a great formation before the Capitol. Once again their bodies will be whole, their uniforms clean, and their worn rifles and sabers will be renewed.
 
That morning the living will muster with the dead. Around the ghosts wearing three-cornered hats and steel helmets, Americans from every town and city will come to give their voices to the silent legion. They will demand an accounting. They will demand a rebirth of the freedom and liberty for which their forefathers fought and died.
 
On that coming Memorial Day.

blog comments powered by Disqus

A Personal Message on Memorial Day Weekend
by GADI ADELMAN
Image Gallery: Memorial Days Past
by THE EDITOR
Memorial Day Challenge: Ryan's Story
Video: Congressman Allen West (R) Memorial Day Observance.
Memorial Day: A Personal Reflection
by BOB SMITH
Memorial Day: A Time to Remember Our Heroes
by MAJ. GEN. PAUL E. VALLELY, US ARMY (RET)
Family Security Matters Remembers the Fallen on Memorial Day
by THE EDITORS

Sen. Ted Cruz calls immigration reform bill ‘almost utterly toothless' regarding border security

May 21, 2013  08:26 PM

"Yes we can" chant erupts in committee room following passage of immigration reform bill in Senate Judiciary.— Faiz (@fshakir) May 21, 2013 The Gang of Eight’s amnesty bill passed out of committee this evening by a vote of 13–5 after Sen. Patrick Leahy agreed to withdraw his amendment allowing American citizens in long-term same-sex relationships to sponsor their […]

All lies on deck? Sources dispute WH claims about pursuit of Benghazi suspects

May 21, 2013  07:32 PM

Incompetence and lies.

Outrageous: Did Justice Department seize phone records of James Rosen's parents?

May 21, 2013  07:15 PM

The net cast by the Department of Justice into the media pool just keeps getting bigger. The original story of Associated Press phone records being seized alone was enough to qualify as the Obama administration’s third big scandal of the moment, right up there with Benghazi and the IRS’ targeting of conservative groups. Then we […]

New Yorker: Justice Department seized phone records of White House staffer lines

May 21, 2013  06:28 PM

Ryan Lizza of the New Yorker is reporting tonight that the Justice Department’s spying on Fox News reporter James Rosen isn’t the end of the story. Lizza says that the U.S. Attorney prosecuting the case of Stephen Jin-Woo Kim “seized records associated with two phone numbers at the White House, at least five numbers associated with Fox […]

Jackass David Sirota: Sequester partly to blame for havoc wreaked by Okla. tornadoes

May 21, 2013  06:14 PM

They prevent tornados? RT @KatrinaNation David Sirota asks good question: Anyone regret slashing National Weather Service budget now?— Jacob Perry (@jacobperry) May 21, 2013 Sigh. Evidently, David Sirota can’t find a better way to reflect upon yesterday’s devastating tornadoes than to link conservatives and the GOP to the fallout from natural disasters. This morning, he […]

FSM Archives

  FSM Archive   Search Must Reads
More in MUST READS ( 1 OF 25 ARTICLES )