Memorial Day

memorial-day-motivational-poster.jpg Memorial Day – H/T to The Whited Sepulchre

Yes, these brave men and women who put themselves in harm’s way for the sake of kith and kin, for the sake of clan and country, and for the sake of freedom and security for all those who sheltered behind them, needed no motivational posters, no rousing speeches, no brash fanfares. They sacrificed themselves on the altar of blood because duty demanded it; all the pomp and splendor was but trapping for those left behind.

Review, friends – troops long past review,
All to fate a weight of pains and dollars.
Their spirit’s wear our silver collars.

Review, friends – troops long past review:
Each a dot of time without pretense or guile.
With them passes the lure of fortune.

Review, friends – troops long past review.
When our time ends on its rictus smile,
We’ll pass the lure of fortune.

— Gurney Halleck
Frank Herbert’s Dune

These fallen soldiers are long past review, their arms and accouterments moldering in the earth, yet there they stand in perfect formation. Massed in their ranks, battalion after battalion, in neat rows set out in now peaceful fields, they fulfill their final duty.

So do not review them, these men and women who earned a warrior’s peace. Present yourself to them instead for review. The fallen do not need our thanksgiving or our praise, but we, for the sake of our souls, need to thank and praise them – and to remember.

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3 Responses to “Memorial Day”

  1. mssc54 Says:

    Where’s the part where this gets easier?!

    http://mssc54.wordpress.com/2009/05/25/memorial-day-2009-we-still-remember/

    Thank you for your tribute.

  2. jonolan Says:

    My heartfelt condolences.

    Sorry, it doesn’t get easier, or at least I haven’t found that it does. I don’t think it really should either, though that’s painful to either say or hear.

    Those who follow the Warrior Path hold a two-fold duty. With their lives they defend those who shelter behind them. With their deaths they serve as a reminder of the worth and the cost of those lives.

    If either their sacrifice or our loss ever gets easier, then we’ve already fallen into darkness and lost ourselves and everything they fought to protect.

    Fair winds and following seas.

  3. A Simple Reminder | Reflections From a Murky Pond Says:

    […] fallen soldiers are long past review, and I sincerely doubt that our dead care overmuch about our opinions of their lives; they’re […]

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