Memorial Day, 2020 (in the era of covid-19)

A huge thank you to our poet Laureate Capt. George Harris (retired) for his annual piece for Memorial Day.

MEMORIAL DAY 2020

“On December 7, 1941, a date, which will live in infamy…”. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt spoke these words to Congress after the Japanese had attacked Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. In this address to Congress, President Roosevelt asked Congress to declare war on the Japanese Empire.

Today, this Memorial Day, a day we set aside to honor all those who have given the last full measure for our freedom and our Nation, we find ourselves in a new war. But this war is against an invisible, spiked enemy, a new or novel coronavirus that has raced around the world like a wildfire in dry prairie grass. It is no respecter of age, race, religion or sex. But that is not totally true because it has dealt a severe blow to our Native American population as well as our Black and Latino population. Older people seem to be its easiest victims; they often have underlying conditions that are exacerbated by this new enemy. And now we are seeing young children, who we thought were immune to this virus, being viciously attacked.

As of today, May 20, 2020, there are 1,504,830 cases in the U.S. with 90,340 deaths. It is very possible that by Memorial Day next week, we will have lost more than 100,000 Americans.

We have been the world’s leader in many things and the last thing we would want to be is the leader in the COVID-19 pandemic. But this is where we find ourselves today. There are some 4,731,458 cases world wide and 326,169 people have died.

Physicians, nurses and other health care workers are our warriors today. They have no military-style weapons; instead, they are using ventilators, needles and syringes, drugs, and personal protective equipment in their daily struggle. And when we win this battle, which we will win, I doubt there will be any memorial built on the national mall to commentate their efforts. But hopefully, they will be remembered.

In the meantime, our military personnel continue to find themselves pitted against terrorists all-around the globe. Many are in places that most of us couldn’t find on a world map. They are there, every day struggling to defeat terrorism in its many forms. Sometimes their enemy is invisible also, using improvised explosive devices and snipers to kill and maim our young men and women. Gold star families are scattered across our nation like stars in the firmament. Hopefully, we will win this war soon and we can put away the burial flags and the mournful echos of Taps and 21 gun salutes will dim. In the meantime, I hope you will pause a moment with me this Memorial and remember our military warriors who have sworn to support and defend our Constitution against all enemies foreign and domestic. Also, take another moment to remember the warriors fighting this terrible virus. God bless all of them and God bless our Nation.