
 |
|
Nov. 23, 2009
JWisdom.com: Actually, it really is all about you with Rabbi Lawrence Hajioff
Nov. 20, 2009
Nov. 19, 2009
Jonathan Tobin: ADL Crosses the Line with Report Bashing Obama Critics
Nov. 18, 2009
JWisdom.com: The (Jewish) Dating Game
with Rabbi Lawrence Hajioff (8 minutes)
Nov. 17, 2009
Steven Emerson: How Does the 4th Amendment Impact Terror Finance Investigations?
JWisdom.com: If Frank Sinatra married Edith Piaf
with Rabbi Y.Y. Rubinstein (2 minutes) Life lessons from what would be regarded as the most inappropriate lyrics ever sung
Nov. 16, 2009
JWisdom.com: Deconstructing faith
with Rabbi Warren Goldstein (9 minutes)
Nov. 13, 2009
JWisdom.com Sarah's subjective reality
with Rabbi Sroy Levitansky ( 6 minutes)
Nov. 12, 2009
JWisdom.com Does God get tired?
with Rabbi Harvey Belovski ( 5 minutes)
Nov. 11, 2009
JWisdom.com Marriages are not made in Heaven
with Rabbi Lawrence Hajioff (VERY fast 15 minutes)
Nov. 10, 2009
Michael Doyle: Author of book exposing CAIR ordered to remove supporting documents from Web
JWisdom.com If the creation so loudly shouts the existence of the Creator, why aren't more people believers? with Rabbi Naftali Brawer (9 minutes)
Nov. 9, 2009
Mark Steyn: Shooter exposes hole
in U.S. terror strategy
JWisdom.com It's never too late to
have a happy childhood with Sarah Chana Radcliffe (5 minutes)
Nov. 6, 2009
JWisdom.com Zero to 1/60th: How
to Empower An Hour with Gavriel Aryeh Sande (7 minutes)
Nov. 5, 2009
JWisdom.com Hidden Hints: Unlocking
Faith & Prayer with Rabbi Jay Yaacov Schwartz (10 minutes)
Nov. 4, 2009
JWisdom.com When God played peacemaker
With Rabbi Sroy Levitansky (5 minutes)
Nov. 3, 2009
JWisdom.com Are you are closet idolater?
With Sara Yoheved Rigler (10 minutes)
Nov. 2, 2009
JWisdom.com Abraham's Strange Change
With Rabbi Yitzchok Fingerer (5 minutes)
|
| |
Jewish World Review
May 28, 2008
/ 23 Iyar 5768
Memorial Day conclusions
By
Tony Blankley
| 
|
|
|
|
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
On Monday, I went to Memorial Day services in our little village of Great Falls, Va., about 20 miles from downtown Washington. About 80 local citizens turned out not bad, given that only a few thousand souls live in the area. The site of the service, now 4 years old, is a small memorial area next to our public library. After the terrible events of Sept. 11, a handful of local folks conceived the idea for a memorial, got government permission, then financed and built it.
I like the way our little memorial came into being, just as most American Memorial Day sites and traditions since the Civil War did: by the desire and initiative of local folks to remember and honor those who died for us.
It is a modest site. No bronze statues or golden eagles. Just curving brick paths, local foliage, a few fitting words such as honor and courage carved in the bricks. And at the center of this outside memorial is a fine large local boulder, placed at the center of where we congregate to remember.
While the names of the honored dead are not chiseled in marble, each name is read out individually to the muffled clang of a bell. For such a small village (which, until a few decades ago, had merely hundreds of residents), there was a surprisingly long list. Along with the fallen soldiers were included the names of our neighbors who died Sept. 11. Among those names was my friend and late colleague Barbara Olson, who was busy on her cell phone letting our government know the impending disaster when she and her fellow passengers were obliterated as her plane flew into the Pentagon.
For that and other reasons, it is still personal for me. And it is my impression that it is personal for most people who planned and attended not only our little ceremony but also (as I have been noticing the past couple of years) ceremonies across the country and on the Internet, as well.
There seems to be a distinctive feature to those who still come to remember, to respect, to appreciate, to sing the patriotic hymns, to bow our heads, to lift our vision upward to our flag, to enter communion with both our living fellow citizens and our dead heroes: They tend to come from families with either active or retired military members. Not entirely, but largely. In our little congregation, there were Vietnam vets, a few CIA guys (I think), a newly minted Army second lieutenant, a World War II widow, and other family members.
The keynote speaker was a retired Vietnam War Army Ranger, who, after conspicuous heroism in battle, came back critically wounded and blind for life and who has spent the past four decades in a productive and patriotic career currently directing services for military families. His remarks were pointed and well taken. Why, he asked, will some people step forward and risk death, while most will not? His answer (correct, I believe) is that they are modest enough to recognize that some things are more important, such as America, our ancient freedoms and safe and good lives for our progeny.
But as I have talked with some of our young soldiers, as well as some vets and their families, I have begun to notice a budding awareness (if not yet quite resentment) among them that not only are a very small fraction of Americans prepared to wear the uniform and bear the burden of citizenship but also few of their fellow Americans even seem to be aware or appreciative of the sacrifice.
Of course, Memorial Day services historically have been more intensely attended during and shortly after wars than during long periods of peace. But we are at war now. As our speaker reminded us Monday, at the very moment we were gathered under a blue and sunny sky, young American soldiers were trudging down dusty landmine-filled streets for our safety's sake. G-d bless them.
It cannot be healthy for our republic that not only do a mere sliver of our people bear the burden of military duty but also that even during war, increasingly it is those soldiers' families who carry the far more modest duty of saying thank you.
Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.
Tony Blankley is executive vice president of Edelman public relations in Washington. Comment by clicking here.
© 2008, Creators Syndicate
|
|

Arnold Ahlert
Mitch Albom
Michael Barone
Dave Barry
Tony Blankley
Andy Borowitz
David Broder
Stratfor Briefing
Mona Charen
Linda Chavez
Ann Coulter
Greg Crosby
Larry Elder
Suzanne Fields
John Fund
Frank J. Gaffney
Lloyd Garver
Jonah Goldberg
Julia Gorin
Jonathan Gurwitz
Paul Greenberg
Lewis Grossberger
Victor Davis Hanson
Betsy Hart
Nat Hentoff
David Horowitz
Laura Ingraham
Cheri Jacobus Jeff Jacoby
Paul Johnson
Jack Kelly
Ed Koch
Ch. Krauthammer
Michael Ledeen
John Leo
David Limbaugh
Kathryn Lopez
Rich Lowry
Michelle Malkin
Jackie Mason
Dick Morris
Bill O'Reilly
Jim Mullen
Clarence Page
Kathleen Parker
Dennis Prager
Wesley Pruden
Tom Purcell
Jonathan Rauch
Celia Rivenbark
Robert Robb
Cokie & Steve Roberts
Pat Sajak
Debra J. Saunders
Culture Shlock
Roger Simon
Michael Smerconish
Thomas Sowell
Mark Steyn
John Stossel
Cal Thomas
Bob Tyrrell
Diana West
Dave Weinbaum
George Will
Walter Williams
Byron York
Mort Zuckerman

Robert Arial
Chuck Asay
Baloo
Chip Bok
Dry Bones
Lisa Benson
John Branch
Gary Brookins
John Cole
J. D. Crowe
John Deering
Brian Duffy
Everything's Relative
Mallard Fillmore
Jake Fuller
Bob Gorrel
Joe Heller
David Hitch
Jerry Holber
Steve Kelley
Jeff Koterba
Dick Locher
Chan Lowe
Ranan R. Lurie
Jimmy Margulies
Rick McKee
Michael Ramirez
Kevin Siers
Jeff Stahler
Ed Stein
Danna Summers
John Trever
Gary Varvel
Kirk Walters

How 2
Lori Borgman
The Savvy Consumer
Elder matters
Fixit
Dr. Peter Gott
GET A JOB! by Marty Nemko
Richard Lederer
Tech Maven
Every Monday Matters
Nutrition Myths
Bookmark These
Bruce Williams
How Stuff Works
|