This past summer, as I always do, I took the time to attend
various events celebrating two uniquely American holidays: Memorial Day and
Flag Day. As I have since I began my
career in public service, I made sure I was in the company of those for whom
these holidays take on a greater meaning than a backyard barbeque; those who
have not forgotten that patriotism and community service are a large part of
the underpinnings of our society.
What makes these events special – and important – is that
they ask us to remember: to remember those who sacrificed, to remember why they
sacrificed, and to remember that without those sacrifices we would not be the
country we are today.
I stood proudly with Frank LaMarsh, Commander of the
American Legion Gold Star Post on Cannon Avenue in Travis, for a Memorial Day
service. As I looked around at the sea
of faces, I noticed it was a smaller sea than it had been in the past -- and
realized it has been getting smaller with each passing year. And older.
Similarly, at a beautiful and stirring Flag Day service led
by Abe Spector at the lodge of the B.P.O Elks, attendance was down and the
average age of the participants was up.
It was the same story as I stood with Gene DiGiacomo, President of the
Thomas Tori Chapter of the Vietnam Veterans of America.
What does this mean?
I’ll tell you what I think it means: folks are more concerned with
grilling a burger and popping open a cold one than they are with recognizing
our flag, our country, and the brave men and women who died in service to an
ideal.
I’m greatly disturbed by this trend. This is not a lull, this is not a temporary
downtick – it has been going on for far too long to be a bump in the road. This is a trend that can lead us to but a
single conclusion: these patriotic
organizations are, unless something changes soon, marked for extinction.
When this happens we will be a poorer nation for it. Something great about America -- the love of
its citizens for their flag, the respect of its citizens for the veterans
who’ve kept us free, the pride of its citizens in their constitution -- will
have died a little bit, and America will have seen the bright light of its
promise dimmed a little bit. And those
who long for an America in twilight will smile.
I’m reminded of the words of the poet Dylan Thomas: “Do not
go gentle into that good night,” he said.
Are we, as a nation, prepared to do exactly what he warns us against? Are we willing to, in fact, go placidly into
the twilight of the American epoch, to put behind us the nation that has done
more good for more people than any political body in the history of this
planet? I cannot believe that we are,
no, I cannot believe that.
We take too much for granted. We believe we will always be free and
prosperous. We think that patriotism is
an old-fashioned emotion, and that we are much too sophisticated to belong to
one of those silly organizations populated by old men trying to re-capture past
glories, re-fighting battles long after the last shots were fired, recalling
foxhole buddies who never came home from Normandy, or Iwo Jima, or the Chosin
Reservoir, or Ia Drang, or any of hundreds of locations that seem to have
existed only in a distant past.
We need to look at these groups in a new way; we need to create
within ourselves a sense of obligation, of responsibility, an acknowledgement
that although they present us with no bill for their service, we are honor
bound to offer them support.
The numbers are trending poorly and I want to help; I want
to put the resources of Borough Hall behind crafting a strategy to stabilize
their memberships, so that these organizations and traditions will be there for
future generations. To that end we will
be gathering a group of veterans, advocates and interested citizens to have a
discussion – a free exchange of ideas dedicated to helping them grow and
thrive.
If enough of us make it a point to join one of these groups
they may survive. If enough of us simply
pay attention to their missions and attend their events they may go on for
generations. But if enough of us choose
to ignore them they will become less than a footnote in the history books, a
slice of Americana from too simple a time.
A time when patriotism mattered and we expressed love for our country
and gratitude for being able to live in it.
A time when it felt good to wave an American flag.
“Do not go gentle
into that good night,
Rage, rage against
the dying of the light.”
These are the last lines of Thomas’ poem. We should heed them.