Us Memorial Day only On Memorial Day, President Barack Obama will attend
an anniversary ceremony at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. It's a long custom
for presidents to honor the nation's war dead. However, it's a sure bet that he
will not honor millions of casualties of war who are not remembered--their
families will never be called "Gold Star Families," even though war
killed their soldiers. That's because many veterans come home alive but are so
morally injured that they kill themselves because war destroyed their core
moral identity and stole their will to live.
Memorial Day is the time when pundits and
politicians alike stand and proclaim, "One life lost is one too
many." Despite their best intentions, the statement is a hollow cliche
that reflects a world as we want it to be versus the realities of the world as
it is.
U.S. President Barack Obama plans to honor the
country's war dead by spending the Memorial Day holiday Monday with veterans
and their families, as communities across the nation host their own
festivities.
The president will visit the Vietnam Veterans
Memorial, as well as Arlington National Cemetery
just outside Washington,
where soldiers have placed American flags on nearly 260,000 graves.
The first large-scale observance of what was
originally called Decoration Day took place at the cemetery in 1868, three
years after the bloody Civil War that killed more than 600,000 people.
It is an
empty response that lacks eloquence and true understanding. It falls
desperately short in its attempt to honor those who have laid down their lives
for their country or pay tribute to their families who have truly sacrificed
for our nation. But what does it all mean in the context of sacrifice,
commitment and dedication? A life lost impacts a family, their friends,
comrades and the community they represent. One life represents so much more
than a number; it is reflective of a community, a county, a state and our
nation.
We never dreamed anything could happen to her. We
thought she was safe, teaching aerial gunnery, trying to do the right thing.
She believed in it so much, said Bagot, who lives in Uptown New Orleans now.
Historians from the National World War II museum
recently recorded Bagot’s memories in order to feature Germaine’s story among
those of service members lost during the war.
The fallen will be remembered this Memorial Day
during the museum’s annual tribute, which includes concerts of patriotic music
and a memorial ceremony, said Clem Goldberger of the World War II Museum.
Our military has always answered the call of our
nation. Service members take an oath to "protect and defend the
Constitution of the United States
against all enemies foreign and domestic," which embodies the ideals of America. They
acknowledge the gravity with "so help me God." Some go on to pay the
ultimate sacrifice that transcends human logic. Everyone who serves gives some,
while some give all.
When Germaine Laville turned 16 in 1938, her family
and friends celebrated in the yard of their home in Plaquemine. It was May, and
her younger sister, Betty Bagot, now 86, still remembers the pink roses
blooming on the arbors.
Six years later, loved ones gathered again in honor
of Germaine, nicknamed Bebe, but this occasion was sad. A member of the Marine
Corps Women’s Reserves, she died in a fire in June 1944 while teaching at the
Marine Air Base in Cherry Point,
N.C. She was 22.
The war touched every aspect of life. “I went to
LSU. There were no men, just women and 4Fs,” she said, referring to men who
were ineligible to serve. Food and supplies were rationed, although with so
many children and a garden on their property, no one went hungry.
“My brothers loved sugar and ketchup, and we never
had enough of that,” Bagot said. “Of course, nylon stockings were a no-no and
cigarettes were pathetic — you couldn’t get the kind you wanted.”
Bagot remembers the family was sitting at supper
when the phone call came from the Plaquemine Western Union office. Germaine had
been teaching when the building caught fire. She escaped, but ran back inside
when she heard a call for help from a fellow Marine. She perished in the fire.
The whole town of Plaquemine turned out for the funeral. “It
was a beautiful funeral. They even had an honor guard,” Bagot said, weeping.
Germaine was precocious. She skipped a grade and headed
to LSU at 17, joining the sorority Alpha Chi Omega. She graduated at 20, eager
to join the war effort on behalf of her family because the boys were all too
young.
