GOODFELLOW AIR FORCE BASE, Texas -- The BBQ having been consumed, the relatives and friends seen, the pools well-used, and the ceremonies attended - what now remains of Memorial Day?
Before we had time to think about it, the 6th of June D-Day remembrances were upon us (this year was the 75th anniversary), and hard on their heels were the snap and pop of the Independence Day celebrations. Before we knew it, Labor Day, the end of summer, the return to school, and the cold weather. The thoughts we had on Memorial Day are as forgotten as the dry autumn leaves that skitter along the pavement in November - when the date will tell us it is time to observe Veterans Day.
And that is the essence of remembrances governed by the calendar. We assign this day to that observance, this month to that awareness, this year to the year of the - fill in the blank. In doing so we are being conscientious, efficient, and dependable. But as the years go by and the pages of history turn ever faster, we tend to lose meaning. The dates come and go, the responses become automatic, and lest we forget tends to become lest we remember outside of a certain spot on the calendar, a certain location on the earth.
In this way our commemorations become perfunctory. Stilted. Devoid of meaning. Like unread books upon a shelf, they look good, but do no labor in the world. They are necessary - critical even - but largely for show. Symbols become divorced from that which they symbolize, and the calendared ceremonies become a prison. Flags and bugles and salutes slip, ever so imperceptibly, into dullness and routine. And in that routine is the forgetting that we say we will never do.
To free our remembrances from their prisons, to make them vivid and vital, it helps to know that things like the flag merely symbolize our nation, and our nation is not a symbol, or even a geographic location. It is an idea - an idea codified in the Constitution and most immediately represented not by dated ceremonies, but by its people. And the whole point of Memorial Day, Veteran’s Day, and Armed Forces Day is to call our people to action - to call us to build a more perfect union. The ceremonies are not an end in themselves, but rather a means to an end. They remind us of our duty to “establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty.”
It is between the ceremonies, in the days framed by them, when it is our duty to justify their efforts to inspire us. To meet the lofty goals of the Constitution, we can start by smiling, letting the other guy in, choosing understanding over judgement, kindness over selfishness, listening over talking. We can use our turn signals, read books, and post, perhaps, one less selfie, one less rant, one less humble brag. In these small ways we can begin to secure the blessings of liberty. Because ceremonies by calendar don’t make a more perfect union. They simply remind us what “We the People” do every day. Flags at half-staff are a great reminder. But the memorial those who made great sacrifices deserve is us, building that more perfect union, together.
Team Goodfellow played an important role in the local landscape of Veterans Day observances, with members participating in the San Angelo parade as well as parades in Menard and Ballinger. Wing leadership also took time to speak at several events honoring our country’s veterans.