Memorial Day: Giving Thanks to Fallen Heros

Memorial Day is a time for quiet reflection on the many thousands of U.S. Armed Services personnel who have died in action for our country. Many scenes come to mind: the lattice of white crosses in military cemeteries, each adorned with a small American flag; the U.S.S. Arizona, sunk in Pearl Harbor with so many of its crew still entombed inside her, still bleeding oil after 65 years; the marble Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers, reverently guarded day and night by their modern brothers. ...

Soldiers, sailors and aviators are buried in cemeteries all over America. A couple of years ago I attended the Memorial Day ceremonies in San Jose's Oak Hill Cemetery. There, Union soldiers from the Civil War are buried in their own section, with Spanish American War dead in the next section over; and there are also graves of doughboys from World War I and many dead from World War II, the Korean War and the Viet Nam War.

In a small cemetery near my home in Hollister, there is a section for military personnel from various wars, mainly World War II, Korea and Viet Nam. But there are a few Union veterans there too - as attested to by their tombstones with a shield.

If you want to truly understand the meaning and pathos of Memorial Day, go to your local cemetery and find the grave of a veteran. Note down his name and details and pin it on a wall somewhere visible in your home. It may be years since he died, since anyone has even spoken his name. Speak it aloud. He was real, he was loved and, but for the Grace of God, lie you.

My individual service man that I will remember was a young sailor named Steve Paul Leon who died during the Viet Nam War. He was close to me in age, a year younger than I am. We probably were both listening to Credence Clearwater and the Beatles back in the sixties. But he shipped out and died, barely 23 years of age. From the picture on his tombstone, you can see he was a handsome young man. How proud he looks in his Navy blues.

Hey Steve, I didn't know you, but God does. You are more than a monument in a grassy cemetery. Thank you for your service and your sacrifice. You are not forgotten. I ask God to bless you and keep you and give you peace.