Memorial Day---Every Day

Bill Neinast


Why just one day?  Why is there just one Memorial Day to recognize and remember the men and women who died in defense of our freedoms?

Every time you agree or disagree with something you hear or read, remember the many who died to guarantee the author of those words the right to speak or write them.  

When you contact one of your elected officials for assistance, remember the crosses in Arlington, Normandy, and elsewhere that are permanent memorials to some who preserved that right of petition for you.

One of the sadder parts of these memories is that the basis for the memorials are destined to grow.  As you read these words, men and women in U.S. military uniforms are standing in harms way in Iraq and Afghanistan,  on ship decks in most of the oceans, and on air fields around the world.

The individuals in those uniforms could be coming home in flag draped coffins any day.  Those in Afghanistan and Iraq and Navy Seals wherever they may be bunked are the ones currently most at risk.

Now, for the first time, the first responders here at home need to be among those to be honored for giving their lives in protecting our freedoms and liberties.  The tentacles of the Caliphate that must be destroyed and eradicated from the earth extend everywhere.  San Bernadino, Paris, and Manchester are just three of the most recent deadly attacks here and in Europe, all far away from the seat of the Caliphate in the Mideast.

A first responder dying in one of those attacks  lost his or her life in defense of this country just as does a soldier who steps on an IED in Afghanistan.

This threat of more names being added to the honor rolls of individuals to be remembered on Memorial Day and throughout the years may be a burden for years.  

That threat could have a shorter life than expected a few weeks ago.  The warm reception of America back as world leader that President Trump received from the leaders of more than 50 Muslim majority countries last week holds a lot of promise.  If they cut off funding for ISIS and step up their assistance to Jordan and Saudi Arabia, Syria could be stabilized, the primary control center of ISIS recruiting and training could be eliminated, and Russian influence in the area could be curtailed in rapid succession.  Only time will tell.

Our service personnel are not the only ones being held hostage by another Obama legacy of abandoning the role of world leader.  Everyone, everywhere is at risk from the nuclear ambitions of Iran and North Korea.

Some will take umbrage at calling those ambitions an Obama Legacy.  Those jumping to his defense, however, should  consider history.

Remember that Obama was willing to do anything to become known as the great peacemaker.  So he engineered an international treaty guaranteeing Iran’s access to nuclear weapons in ten years.  

To keep Iran at the negotiation table, he agreed, and got other countries to agree, to lift sanctions against Iran, to pay billions of dollars in ransom for some Americans imprisoned by Iran, and exempted the military installations where work on nuclear weapons was most likely to occur from international inspections.

Oh, that’s right, those billions of dollars were not ransom.  The currency was just returning the money that Iran had on deposit in American banks.  The plane carrying the American prisoners not being allowed to take off until the plane with the American payoff landed was just a coincidence.

Whatever the reasons, in eight years (treaty date 2015) Iran will have nuclear capabilities that it can use against Israel or other perceived enemies and share the technology with any terrorist groups it chooses.

On the other side of the globe, North Korea is even closer than Iran to nuclear weapons and to intercontinental missiles within range of the U.S.  Just another legacy of Obama’s “Let’s talk peace” policies.  The more than 30,000 American personnel just south of Pyongyang are the ones most at risk from Kim Jong-un, but our personnel in Japan and Okinawa are not far behind.

So here’s the perspective.

Memorial Day, 2017, is now in the history books.  Do not let it remain there.  Make part of every day a time to remember those who will join that honor roll at any moment.          


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