TIME TO MOVE ON

Honoring Those Who Never Returned

Since I started this blog 20 months ago, I have posted 72 weekly columns, missing only three weeks last fall when I was laid up with COVID and unable to think straight. I have about 50 loyal followers and about twice that number read each post. That’s about two percent of the number who read my columns in our hometown weekly newspaper. After reviewing my priorities, I have decided to end these weekly posts. I may occasionally post again if the mood strikes but, for now, have other projects looking for attention.

The madness in our federal government continues but, while continuing to encourage and practice resistance, I refuse to lend energy to the madness by expecting the worst outcome. I continue to see the Project 2025 gang failing of their own incompetence, stupidity, and cruelty. And I envision a time soon when we rebuild our democracy and our vital government services without the weaknesses that allowed the criminals to take over.

I want to thank my readers, and so to not leave you empty handed, here is my column that was published this morning on the editorial page of The Bourne Enterprise.

This is the weekend we honor the military heroes who never came home. There were almost 117,000 killed in the first world war, more than 400,000 in the second world war, 36,500 in the Korean conflict, and more than 58,000 in Viet Nam. For as long as I can remember, though, Memorial Day has been a demonstration of military dominance and veterans marching in celebratory parades. I marched in eight as a drummer in high school and college bands but, although I am a veteran, I never marched as one. Memorial Day is often conflated with Veterans Day, Patriots Day, and Independence Day as a celebration of war. We have seen fewer of those parades and celebrations in recent decades, but our president is planning a grand one in the ancient tradition of emperors and kings on his birthday next month.

When I was a youngster there were Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) posts in every town where those who survived the wars would gather to tell tales of their experiences and relive their military adventures. Everyone I knew seemed to have uncles and grandparents who did the same at family gatherings. Even then, though, I was aware that some veterans never spoke of their service. Many years later I realized that those were the vets who experienced the horror of actual combat. Some were the walking wounded who could be seen wandering the grounds of veterans’ hospitals. Before post-traumatic stress was defined as a psychological syndrome, those vets were said to be “shell-shocked.” And even those who successfully reintegrated into civilian life rarely shared their military experiences with friends or family members.

My uncle Buddy was one of them. He enlisted in the army as a teenager in 1942, learned baking while on active duty, and after the war ran a large commercial bakery his entire working life. He frequently sent letters home during the war but was not allowed to say where he was stationed or what he was doing. Buddy was a man of few words who never spoke of his army experience. The most I ever heard him say were three catch phrases: “Well, I’ll be,” “Whatever,” and “Oh, happy day.” After he died, one of his sons was sorting through his papers and found a citation signed by French President Charles de Gaulle, thanking him for his participation in the D-Day invasion at Omaha Beach in Normandy.

There are fewer veterans now but many of us still live on the Cape. Bourne was dominated by the military base for most of the 20^th century and still has a larger percentage of vets, about one in thirteen residents, than any other Cape town. The average for Barnstable County is about one in eight residents. Until just a few months ago the Cape had one of the best veteran medical clinics in the country, but it has now been closed by an administration determined to reduce government services. My hope is that my grandchildren might see the day when there are no more veterans and our world becomes enlightened enough to stop celebrating war and having to set aside a day to honor those who died so needlessly.

(Today’s cartoon borrowed from my favorite political cartoonist, Dave Granlund.)