Remembering the Fallen- In Big Ways or Small
Memorial Day is a day to remember those men and women who have died in service to our country. Memorials for them can be public or private, and others have been turned into songs.
Today across the country and around the world Americans are celebrating Memorial Day, a day set aside to honor those men and women in the U.S. armed forces that gave their lives in service to their country. Some of these celebrations will be large official events, such as the ones held at Tomb of the Unknown Soldier typically attended by the President and the media. Others will be smaller and more local, such as the kind of ceremony held every year here in Minnesota by Fr. Snelling at the national cemetery (where my father and seven of my uncles and one aunt are buried), which includes a small parade with participants dressed in historic military uniforms.
And then are those the celebrations which are private. These amount to personal actions taken by veterans to remember and honor their fellow soldiers with whom they served with but did not make it back home. These more private memorials are something that I have been acquainted with all my life. While I did not serve in the military, my brother, father, and several uncles did (one of whom died in Europe in World War 2). For them, joining the armed services was in part a way to acquire training and education to escape their migrant farm worker upbringing, but it was also out of patriotism for the land that had given them a better life than their father experienced growing up in poverty in Mexico.
While they were rather guarded about most of their time in the service (i.e., either combat operations or construction in a war zone), the veterans in my family were very open about the people they both knew and served with. At times they would dig out old photos or mementos from their time in the service to remind them of their friends. Other times they might visit their graves or take a moment before a meal or a drink to toast them; just make sure they would never forget their names and the sacrifices of those men. I was told later in life that these little actions were a coping mechanism for a condition known as survivor’s guilt, and while I will not dispute that fact, it always seemed to me that deep down it was just my relatives remembering the men they had the honor (and sometimes annoyance, as an uncle once wryly told me) of serving with in the crucible of war—the kind of bond that has few parallels in civilian life.
These small and personal remembrances done in private are typically only shared with close friends and family, but they are far more common that people may know.
A Small Battle but Big Memories
While mostly known for their hit song “Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy” and a song about sticking progress “where the sun don’t shine,” the country duo Big and Rich (Big Kenny and John Rich) are also known and loved by veterans for their 2006 song entitled “8th of November.”
The origins of the song came out of an encounter the two of them had with a fan of theirs from South Dakota named Niles Harris, who was a veteran of the Army’s 173rd Airborne Brigade during the Vietnam War.
Harris told them the story of how he was wounded in 1965 during Operation Hump, a four-day battle north of Bien Hoa in South Vietnam, which was jointly fought by the1st Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment, 173rd Airborne Brigade, as well as a battalion from the Royal Australian Army and a battery from New Zealand. On the last day of the battle on November 8th, Harris and his troops were ambushed by over 1,200 Vietcong soldiers. His life and the lives of several others would ultimately be saved by Army medic Lawrence Joel, who was the first African-American soldier since the Spanish-American war to win the Congressional Medal of Honor.
Harris told them that on every November 8th, the anniversary of the battle, he “puts on a grey suit and tie over his Airborne tattoo” and goes out to “order a tall one and swallows it down with his tears” as he honors his fellow Airborne soldiers, forty-eight of whom were killed during the battle.
Before parting, Harris gave Big Kenny his army top hat. Inspired by this and out of gratitude, Big and Rich wrote the song “8th of November,” and got Kris Kristofferson (himself a former Airborne soldier) to narrate its music video (where Big Kenny can be seen wearing the hat that Harris gave him).
The song was hugely popular. Once again, out of gratitude for Harris’ story and to honor the fallen soldiers of Operation Hump, Big and Rich accompanied Harris back to Vietnam to visit the site of the battle. There, in a small gesture of healing, Harris buried his old combat boots (which he still owned) in a place nearby where he was wounded. He even had the chance to meet and reconcile with some old Vietcong soldiers who were themselves veterans of the battle. The short documentary they created about this trip is well-worth watching, particularly on this special day.
Large or Small, Take a Moment to Remember then All
As another Memorial Day passes us by, American soldiers are, as we have always been for a large part of our history as a nation, standing in harm’s way. Today is a day (ideally) to set aside the prevailing cynicism of the current Realpolitik realities of the world and to remember those who paid the ultimate price in service to their country. These fallen may be our friends or family, or in the case of those countless gravestones for veterans of long-ago wars, they may simply be our fellow Americans who donned the uniform and served their country.
So whether you plan on attending a large Memorial Day celebration or are opting for a smaller affair (such as taking a moment of silence), you can say a prayer, raise a drink or listen to “The 8th of November,” but consider doing something to honor those that have fallen in defense of our nation.
Photo Credit- 8th of November, Postwiki, Country Fancast, Historical Easter Eggs and YouTube.