A Memorial Day tribute to the men and women who sacrificed

Serving your country can make ordinary day troubles seem miniscule.

It’s easy to think of the men and women who fought for their country as superheroes. After all, they go off into endangered territory with a distress-fueled mission to keep the peace. Little about their mission is supposed to be easy or routine, so the correlation makes some think they’re invincible. The opposite is the truth.

The men and women who put on the uniform and served their country had a more than fair chance of not returning home, leaving their family and friends alone and wondering what could have been if war wasn’t required to keep the balance of the world in check. Due to unchecked power and the endless pursuit of it, there have been multiple World Wars and various requirements for human beings to be sent overseas to defend the United States of America. History is a violent trek of sacrifice, stuffed with individuals leaving their homes to help others.

Throughout history, people have been drafted to serve. Many times, though, people step forward to serve their country. Instead of going into a different door to buy food or supplies for their home, they walk into a different office and vow to give their lives for an alternative mission.

Memorial Day may be a chance to honor the ones who served and died while doing so, but it’s also a chance to remember all the people who took that chance when leaving their homes. Veteran’s Day in November covers that more succinctly, but it’s perfectly fine to remember what was put on the table when the hundreds of thousands of people made a promise. You don’t put on that uniform without the idea that your end may occur overseas in a far different land than your own. Surrounded by brothers and sisters bound by a military allegiance instead of a blood bond, they put everything on the line.

The movies have a way of turning these fallable humans into superheroes with a depiction of battle that carries more far-fetched ingredients than facts, leading one to assume that it’s all guns and blood when the shit hits the fan. That’s the only problem with a film depicting war; a business model to make money will always trump the authentic portrayal of war on screen. From time to time, the depiction is right on the nose and given the proper respect.

Rod Lurie’s The Outpost is a fine example. Alex Garland and Ray Mendoza’s Warfare is a great example. Peter Berg’s Lone Survivor is a solid tribute to Michael Murphy, the Navy Seal who died during Operation Red Wing. Thousands of people perform a yearly physical endurance test to Murphy, whose last transmission to his superiors before dying on the top of a mountain was, “Roger that. Thank you.”

Just about every man and woman who served leaves people behind. Husbands, wives, daughters, sons, uncles, aunts, brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews, and cousins. Friends and best friends. The people left behind deserve as much of a tribute as the ones who left, because they are left unwhole and wanting more time with the person who was either selected or chose to go help fight a faceless enemy. The opposition could be an ideal or a group of people, but the sacrifice is all the same.

On a day like this, sunny with clear skies, one can only remember that the air we breathe at the moment is due to that sacrifice. A sacrifice could be a life or mere time spent away from home. We shouldn’t forget about any of it. Remember it, and not just two days a year.

Thanks for reading. Do more today than drink beer and eat barbecue. Raise a glass to those who gave everything or something for their country.