Writing for Memorial Day

I’m a member to the veterans affinity group at work, called the Veterans Empowerment Team, or VET for short. I was asked to write a message that could be sent out to all city employees’ emails for Memorial Day. It went out this morning.

Writing this was an interesting exercise, since I have not experienced a personal loss on this level. The first thing I did was a Google search of “Memorial Day”, then I went to Wikkipedia, clicked the link for Flanders Fields and read the poem through completely. Also an interesting exercise. I also did a search for quotes related to Memorial Day, veterans, military service, military losses, and military dead.

After all this research I was ultimately left to do the actual writing, which was kind of a daunting task because you never know if you can hit the right note. I always live in fear that I will offend someone unintentionally. As I’ve mentioned before Portland is a city that loves its protests and the war has certainly been a favored subject. We even had grandmas picketing a military recruiting station. I know that many veterans, especially from the Vietnam era, are careful to keep their veteran status quite because of the response they might get. So, I’ve been my usual nervous self about this one. I’m happy to say that so far all the feed back has been good. Would it be tacky to say, “Dodged that bullet”?

Here is what I wrote:

May 21, 2009

…We are the dead. Short days agoWe lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,Loved, and were loved, and now we lieIn Flanders fields… from “In Flanders Fields” by John McCrae

Freedom is never free, and while many citizens pay a portion of the cost to preserve our freedom, some have paid a higher price than others. May 25th is Memorial Day, a day to remember those who have paid with their lives, to insure the freedoms we all enjoy.

Many of us will spend this day at BBQ’s and picnics enjoying friends and family. That is a very fitting way to celebrate, by participating in activities that our fallen brothers and sisters would have enjoyed.

The Veterans Empowerment Team asks that we all take a moment at noon on that day, to observe the national moment of remembrance for all those who have paid the ultimate price. To quote Calvin Coolidge, “The nation which forgets its defenders will be itself forgotten.”
We hope you all enjoy a bright, cheerful celebration while remembering all those who are no longer with us.