One of the many ways this area is remarkable:
Volunteers placed 37,000 American flags in Boston Common to honor the fallen for #MemorialDay. pic.twitter.com/Fr1NSH0CFJ
— ABC News (@ABC) May 25, 2015
The sacrifice of the soldier is unique: One offers one’s life in defense of one’s country. There are few other professions or creeds that require that potential.
And the enormity of the sacrifice requires us to be vigilant, that it not be treated cheaply.
One of the reasons this blog exists is because of the monstrous stupidity and arrogance of the Iraq War. There were precious few skeptical voices in the professional media, and they were often hounded out of their jobs.
Massachusetts has lost 124 servicemembers in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Our neighbors. Mostly young. They’d be moving on in life, creating families. They were people. Someone’s kids. Someone’s mom or dad.
Politics-by-other-means; obstinate ideology; ethnic tribalism; religious fanaticism; obscurantist doctrines and jargon; media panic: These are the crevasses where the bodies are thrown.
The only thing that really matters is flesh and blood. They are not flags. They are people.
Charley on the MTA says
for the edit, and if you need to un-recommend go ahead. I had this little mini-essay written, and WordPress ate it.
Also not sure if the photo now comes through on your browser. It didn’t on mine, and still doesn’t … good times.
fredrichlariccia says
placed flowers on his headstone and told him how much I miss him because he was my best friend.
First Lieutenant Peter Rich was killed in action on September 15,1968 leading his platoon into battle in Vietnam. He was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star for Valor and the Purple Heart. He was 23.
I spent a quiet day reflecting on the courage of all our heroes down through history who made the ultimate sacrifice.
May they not have died in vain.
Fred Rich LaRiccia
jconway says
I remember my grandparents and great uncles and aunts from the Greatest Generation, but I will also remember Bryan Lounsbury, a good friend of my nephew’s, brother to an elementary school classmate, and son of one of my sister’s best friends. A loss deeply felt in the North Cambridge community I grew up in. There is a small memorial to him next to the McCrehan Pool erected shortly after his death, and his mother is currently one of the leaders of the Massachusetts Gold Star Community.