Honor And Sacrifice

I was going to write a Memorial Day post, but the NYTimes does a better job than I would have:

Every family that has lost a son or daughter in battle has had to decide whether the large justifications of war actually justify that final, particular sacrifice. Many Americans are tempted to let the valuation of those deaths rest solely with the families themselves. We ease the thought of those deaths with the words that have always seemed most persuasive over the grave. We ease the memory of them by folding them into the fabric of history, as if the task of saying what those deaths really meant lay beyond us.

But we who are alive — kin or no kin — also have a right to ask why these soldiers died, not just now, in this present war, but throughout the course of our history. The language of those larger causes — words like America, freedom, liberty, patriotism — are used in our names as well.

Today, each generation looks back to its own war — World War II, Korea, Vietnam, the gulf war and Iraq. In each of those wars, a soldier's death was final, the sense of duty and service as acute as in any other war. In that sense, the meaning of those deaths has not changed over time. What is different, for each of those wars, is the sense of national necessity that lay behind them. Some of America's wars have truly been fought for the very principles that underpin this nation's existence. Others have not. But nothing can dishonor the dead, not even the failures of the living.

All I can really add is that I honor those who have made sacrifices in my name, no matter the reason.

Peace,
ntodd