John F. Kennedy said, “A nation reveals itself not only by the men it produces but also by the men it honors, the men it remembers.” As we prepare to celebrate the joys of summer’s arrival, we must also heed Kennedy’s remarks and honor those men and women who gave their lives for our freedoms. Across the county, ceremonies will be held to honor those who made the ultimate sacrifice in America’s service. The most important remembrance should occur in each of us.
The beginnings of Memorial Day came out of the carnage we reference as the Civil War. The over 620,000 Americans who lost their lives in that war make it the deadliest of our conflicts, more so even than the Americans fallen in both world wars combined. The Civil War also led to America’s first national cemeteries, including the national reserve in Arlington, Virginia.
Ceremonies began across the country in the form of flowers and prayers at the graves of the Civil War fallen. In 1868, General John A. Logan led an organized effort to designate the 30th of May as Decoration Day, formalizing a practice that had already begun in individual hamlets.
Decorations Day, dedicated to the Civil War fallen, evolved into Memorial Day as a remembrance of all who have died in America’s conflicts. By 1971, Congress changed the date to the last Monday in May.
Cape May County is home to the highest concentration of veterans as a percentage of the population in New Jersey. The census bureau notes that almost 9% of the county’s permanent adult population has veteran’s status. That is double the state rate and higher by 25% than the national rate. Although all veterans are celebrated in November, a county so rich with military service has special reason to honor the fallen on Memorial Day.
Those men and women who gave their lives to protect our democracy provided us with the ability to debate, to argue, to test our visions of how America should respond to unending challenges that confront any nation, challenges from without and within. Ultimately, our best ability to honor their sacrifices is not by demonizing those with whom we do not agree, but rather by finding common ground and accepting the outcomes of our democratic processes.
There have been times in our history when compromise was eschewed, when zero-sum struggles led to crises. The most obvious example is the very conflict that gave rise to Decoration Day.
Following the Constitutional Convention, when he was 81 years old, Benjamin Franklin wasapproached by citizens who asked him what sort of government the delegates had created. His reply was “A Republic, if you can keep it.” Franklin knew what the founders had provided was not perfect. He noted in his last speech to the convention that one could not expect a “perfect production.” For Franklin, what had been produced “for all its faults” was better than any alternative.
On Memorial Day, we honor the fallen who protected our right to be imperfect. They gave us ongoing opportunity to work out the common ground between our many idealistic visions and practical realities in a democratic government.
Perhaps the best way to honor their sacrifice is to hold dear the republic that Franklin knew would always be in peril from within, as well as without.
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From the Bible:
From Romans Chapter 12
Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor.
From Romans Chapter 12
