In memorium

I didn’t see anyone I knew, pass the torch in theater, but I know those that have.

I knew of several nearby, though I knew none personally.

but the memory of those times will linger with me forever. The smells, the sights, the laughter, the sorrow, and most especially, the FEAR; not knowing if you were going to be next, or if you would make it home upright on your own two feet, or in a chair with wheels, or in a flag draped box. The Fear that is created when Power drivers use the tools they amass to push political decision with force. Those tools have names, faces, family, and usually no interest in the reason, but every interest in getting home alive.

Not all do.

WE all gave, but some gave ALL.

THEY are the reasons for this day, and why we should pay stricter attention to what is going on, in that ‘shining city on a hill’. Maybe they were just “tools” to be used and discarded, in the manner that our ‘betters’ seem to imagine them. BUT, most all were patriots in some fashion, and felt the call to serve a nation as such. We would do well to honor that, and not just by toasting a beer over a burger to them, but by giving them a moment of silence; silence to whisper to us, the living, that maybe, we need to get off our duffs and start honoring them by DOING the things that need done, no matter how much we do not want to throw that switch.

Reflect on that while you enjoy the rest of the day.