It’s Memorial Day. I don’t have any real interest in commenting on Indiana politics this morning, so I’ll just add my voice to the chorus of thanks for the men and women who have given their lives fighting in America’s wars.
According to the Wikipedia entry linked above, Memorial Day was formerly known as “Decoration Day” and began first to honor Union soldiers who died during the Civil War. After World War I, it expanded to include those who died in any war or military action. I wonder if that includes the southern rebels who committed treason by fighting against the union for the Confederacy, killing the Union soldiers for whom the holiday was originally enacted. Along those lines, the Wikipedia entry goes on to state:
Many of the states of the U.S. South refused to celebrate Decoration Day due to lingering hostility towards the Union Army, which it was commemorating. Many Southern States did not recognize Memorial Day until after World War I, and even after continued to have a separate Confederate Memorial Day, with the date varying from state to state.
I’m not sure if it’s proper to honor our military dead in this fashion, but when so many are dying in Iraq, I’m reminded of Lord Tennyson’s Charge of the Light Brigade. The traditional image of Memorial Day is the brave soldier dying for a noble cause. But with the war in Iraq, the Charge of the Light Brigade seems more appropriate — brave soldiers dying for their country, but in a futile cause because their superiors have misused the honor and loyalty of their soldiers.
1.
Half a league, half a league,
Half a league onward,
All in the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.
“Forward, the Light Brigade!
“Charge for the guns!” he said:
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.2.
“Forward, the Light Brigade!”
Was there a man dismay’d?
Not tho’ the soldier knew
Someone had blunder’d:
Their’s not to make reply,
Their’s not to reason why,
Their’s but to do and die:
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.3.
Cannon to right of them,
Cannon to left of them,
Cannon in front of them
Volley’d and thunder’d;
Storm’d at with shot and shell,
Boldly they rode and well,
Into the jaws of Death,
Into the mouth of Hell
Rode the six hundred.4.
Flash’d all their sabres bare,
Flash’d as they turn’d in air,
Sabring the gunners there,
Charging an army, while
All the world wonder’d:
Plunged in the battery-smoke
Right thro’ the line they broke;
Cossack and Russian
Reel’d from the sabre stroke
Shatter’d and sunder’d.
Then they rode back, but not
Not the six hundred.5.
Cannon to right of them,
Cannon to left of them,
Cannon behind them
Volley’d and thunder’d;
Storm’d at with shot and shell,
While horse and hero fell,
They that had fought so well
Came thro’ the jaws of Death
Back from the mouth of Hell,
All that was left of them,
Left of six hundred.6.
When can their glory fade?
O the wild charge they made!
All the world wondered.
Honor the charge they made,
Honor the Light Brigade,
Noble six hundred.
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