My Head Bowed on Memorial Day

The 11-year-old me with my only hero. Thanks, Dad.

Grievances. We have many. We are still blessed.

For now, we're just trying to live through a pandemic, doing a job which thrusts us into the thick of a horrific pandemic. Yeah, Oregon has been lucky. Very few new cases are being reported, with just under 4,000 statewide. Lucky? I'd like to think it's a concerted effort to reduce the spread via social distancing and the two-month-long shutdown which is responsible. Now, we're seeing our state re-open this week. While it's a bit daunting, we're taking great risk to serve as transit operators. I get it. Our economy is in shambles, and many have been out of work this whole time. Bills need to be paid, and our citizens yearn to return to "life as normal".

What will be the "new normal"? I don't really know, but I'm sure it won't ever be the same again as long as COVID-19 reminds us of its potential devastation. What good is any "economy" if its contributors all die? Surely, this is the thing of scary movies. Still, I'm sure it reverberates in the thoughts and souls of all mortal souls. What if God, or whatever supernatural being watches over us, is too pissed off at us to allow "life as normal" to continue? Perhaps our collective selfishness dictates Earth needs a cleansing of humanity to continue as the most beautiful marble in the solar system. I don't know, do you?

We're too eager to blame others for everything, while we continue fighting over things that were once controlled by a healthy attitude of cohesiveness and compromise. Now, we're at each others' throats. Compromise? It's either for or against. There seems to be no middle. But hey, I'm still there. Raised by parents wholly-dedicated their entire lives by one party, I branched away from their beliefs as I grew to find my own. Still, we had many productive discussions where we respected another's disagreement and found ways to understand each other. My parents encouraged me to study American history and make my own conclusions. They didn't always agree with what I believed, but they respected me. Love was the constant.

The word "hate" was never mentioned. Now, that four-letter word is thrown about with abandon, without the slightest understanding of how damaging it is to whomever believes in it. Wars have been fought to contain its rise, and compromise has always been there to end its' nasty reign. Now, I fear for my beloved country. All because we cannot seem to move past anger and division to find, once again, what once made this nation "great".

To wear a mask, or not? False bravado won't keep you from contracting this horrid disease. I've read what it does to the body, and it's not the way anyone would choose to die. Nor could I ever wish it upon anyone, even those with whom I politically disagree with. If some foreign invader came to our shores with the intent of overtaking our 244-year-old sovereignty, we would fight shoulder-to-shoulder to preserve our right to argue politics with one another, no matter our political affiliation. We would all come together to defend our home country, that which we all love. The more the strife among us continues however, the greater fear I have because we have lost our ability to reason. It's not dignified to our forebears who fought so valiantly to preserve our republic's freedoms, to tear each other apart for how we believe this country should move forward.

This Memorial Day, I thought of my many generations of ancestors who have fought in virtually every war since we reached these shores in the early 1700s. Many great-greats died in battles for "freedom" which devolved into economic battles fought by the poor to keep the rich healthy and wealthy. My father was a World War II veteran; my brother and his son both served honorably in the Army; my uncle (who just turned 95 last week) was in a unit which became what is now the Navy SEALS during the last Great War. I am humbled by their service, and also by those I grew up with especially Walt Rodriguez, Jim Bussey and his departed brother Charlie (RIP), Timothy Rodriguez, Alan Rieffer, and countless others I respect for their sacrifice and devotion to our country. While some of these folks disagree with my views, they still treat me with respect even though I feel their collective shudder as they consider my beliefs. It's this honor they bestow upon me I truly admire, being one of many their service has protected. One of my sons' best friends is now a Marine, and I worry and pray for him every day, as I have ever since he was a wee lad.

I stand and salute the flag, place my hand over my heart and remove my hat whenever the National Anthem is played. My patriotism is not to be questioned, for I am truly a proud American. Nobody can take that away from me. My parents taught me to be honorable, and I hope my actions demonstrate that.

Our veterans liberated Europe and defeated Japan in 1945. We have stood for freedom across the globe. Yeah, we've made political mistakes on occasion. But our military has done everything, and more, it has been asked.

All that said, I fear for our country as it is now. We need to remember what it is to be citizens of the UNITED States of America. We should be more humble, not arrogant. We're a small citizenry of a world containing nearly eight billion people. Our population of 230 million is one billion less than China, which owns our national debt. Our numbers are nearly that much less than India's. Still, we're one of the world's superpowers. What does that mean, other than we could all die should someone trigger the massive nuclear arsenal the world possesses? We're too wrapped up in "power for power's sake" that we forget we could all be dead in the flash of a mushroom cloud. What then, would our divisiveness grant us? A common, fiery grave, and that's all.

I remember the drills of the 1960s, where we huddled under our wobbly wooden desks. Even as a child, I knew a nuclear bomb would devastate anywhere it detonated. It was silly, but we did as our teachers instructed. Given the ludicrous notion that we could live through a nuclear winter or even the blast, my greatest fear today is that some madman with an automatic weapon could wreak havoc upon my family or friends with equal horror in some public place. In a muzzle flash, I could be gone, or lose someone I cherish.

Yeah, this post is a downer. Even so, ever the optimist, I'm praying for the best. I do hope we learn to once again argue for the common good, rather than to see one side or the other in perpetual power over the least of us. This country began with the premise that we are all created equal (yes, women should be included here, hopefully in a Constitutional Amendment).

"... in order to form a more perfect union (better than others is what they originally wished), establish justice (for ALL, not just the entitled few), ensure domestic tranquility (meaning we all have what we need plus the promise of a comfortable retirement for our hard work), provide for the common defense (THANK YOU Military!), promote the general welfare (protection from pandemics would surely count here), and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity (meaning generations long after we're gone), do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."

On this Memorial Day 2020, may God Bless our country's sacrificial warriors. Today, the USA honors its fallen soldiers and others who fought for not only our country, but that we may ALL live to see a world in peace and harmony with one another.

Bless you all, as well, even though you and I may disagree on the path forward. I honor our lost souls and pray those who remain learn to work together once more. Peace be with you all.

In Memoriam and great respect, I am
Deke N. Blue