MEMORIAL DAY 2007

Ladies, gentlemen, children, distinguished guests, visitors, veterans, friends and neighbors:

Welcome to Twain Harte's Memorial Day Flag Dedication, Parade, and Picnic. We are most fortunate to live in this small, wonderful community under the blue Sierra sky where values still exist and flags still stand for freedom. Thank every one of you for coming and especially those who made this possible.

My name is John Baldwin, and like many of you, I served in our armed forces, in combat, in Viet Nam... but as a surgeon. I join everyone here in offering our utmost thanks to you veterans, men and women, and especially to the families who sent sons and daughters when their nation called.

Memorial Day, however, is not to celebrate those of us who were fortunate enough to return home alive. There is another day for that, called Veterans' Day, November 11. Memorial Day began very simply, right after the Civil War, when Southern women placed fresh flowers on the graves of their men. For half a century, today was called "Decoration Day", but with the addition of more wars and battle deaths in our 231 year history, it was renamed "Memorial Day"

Traditions fade and current America is much different than when I was a kid sitting on my bike with red, white and blue crepe paper in the spokes, watching the old men walk by...heroes from World War One. How, I wondered, did those old guys win a war? Now I know.

This is a Day to honor those who gave the utmost sacrifice. It has evolved into a giant BBQ, a car race, baseball games, picnics and a three day weekend. This is probably just what those who died would be doing if they were here today, because they are the freedoms we Americans find dear to our hearts. But let us, just for this moment, pause in our busy schedules to remember those who missed it all, such as Edward Paul VanDervort... and the one million seven hundred thousand just like him who have perished in service to this nation beginning with the Civil War.

Do not hasten through this Memorial Day. Remember that as we stand in this glorious Sierra sunshine, over 150,000 men and women are serving in the hell of Iraq and Afghanistan. And remember, on any given night, nearly 200,000 veterans of our wars, broken in mind and body, are homeless people. Take a moment to reflect. Tell your kids and grandkids what today really means.

When you visit Arlington National Cemetery, you should go to Area #60. Those of us who have been there call it "The Saddest Acre in America". It is in this grassy spot overlooking the Potomac to which over half of our killed-in-action from the Middle East War are being buried. Unlike the deserted acres of white crosses in the rest of Arlington, Area 60 is crowded with families in their anguish and grief, and cemetery officials look the other way as teddy bears, baseball mitts, high school photos, a motorcycle helmet, and letters of love are placed by the simple marble crosses. Yes, there will always be a Memorial Day.

There is one other way you can honor those who died and that is by honoring those who are now wearing the uniform. We Viet Nam vets remember vividly our airport experiences, mine at San Francisco International in May of 1969, totally exhausted, still in combat fatigues with the red Long Binh dust and yesterday's OR blood on the pants. I and twenty others coming back, were heckled, ridiculed, and spit upon. So, when you see these young kids in airports...whether coming back or going over, in their desert camos or their greens, walk up to them and give them your thanks and encouragement. They need it, they love it, and they deserve it. They don't make policy, they just do the job. Honor them because not all of them will come home. Above all, take the time today to mentally thank those departed Americans who gave their last full measure of devotion to our nation.

*Do not put these heroes and their experiences on the back pages of your minds. Their stories are not just boys' adventure tales. They are a form of moral instruction. They tell us something we've heard before, but it is worth repeating on this wartime Memorial Day when we're all uncertain about what we celebrate.

"We are the land of the free for one reason only: We are also the home of the brave.

Thank you and God bless this land.

©Copyright May 2007 by John N. Baldwin MD