Today should be a day of celebration. It will be a day of picnics and parades where it is not raining, and one of gripes and grievances where it is. There will be sales on paints and home fixer uppers as well as watermelons and water guns as we welcome ‘the unofficial start of summer.” As close to noon as possible, at the end of a parade or in front of a town war memorial, someone will play taps, and as close to as soon as possible, the revelry can begin, and the memory portion of Memorial Day will conclude.

There are three holidays that celebrate members of the United States military. Armed Forces Day (the third Saturday of May) honors those wearing the uniform, Veterans Day (every year on November 11) honors those who have hung up their uniform, and Memorial Day remembers those who never made it out of their uniform. Over 1.1 million Americans perished in wars since the American Revolution. Many of those we celebrate on Armed Forces Day and Veterans Day believe those 1.1 million are the only members of the armed forces truly worthy of celebration. The rest are “merely doing our job.”

For the most part, those we remember today chose to be Americans, either themselves or by birth. Few of them outside those who served other than those who served in the 18^th Century can trace their ancestry back to those earliest Americans. Very few of them can trace their roots to the natives of this land. What is probably an understatement is that the U. S. military is made of members who hail (or hailed) from over 20 countries, bringing their language, customs, celebrations, and memories onto the fields of battle and training along with their boots and gear and weapons. When I was serving, there were in my company those who were born in America soldiers, birthright soldiers, immigrant soldiers, and one Native American soldier. The common denominator was soldier. To the best of my knowledge, all are either still in their uniforms or have taken them off by choice. None of us will be celebrated this weekend and that’s okay.

What isn’t okay is if the 1.1 million who never had the chance to decide if they wanted a life out of their uniforms to be forgotten, or worse, to be remembered in passing, or only as a means to sponsor a sale or take advantage of a photo opportunity.

The history of this nation and the future fate of this nation is rooted in those 1.1 million individuals. Enjoy the parades, the first day at the pool, the 2 for 1 watermelon. Before you do any of that, thank God for sending people with the courage to have defended your privilege to do those things, and pray we won’t soon need more of them.