I graduated from high school in 2001. It was the calm before the storm and a lucrative and seemingly safe time to join the military, at least it appeared that way to me back then.
Operation Desert Storm had been in the rear view mirror for kids my age and was widely considered a successful and brief military operation, or at least that was how it was billed to teens in those days.
The Cold War was over, but not because of Rocky’s bout with Draco, despite what my generation believed.
Being born after the Vietnam War had ended, we hadn’t known much about the impact of wars other than what we read in history books.
The military had grand appeal as an honorable and worthy post-graduation option.
It offered job skills, self-discipline and distinction. It provided a jump-start to your future and gave some much needed assistance paying for college tuition.
I, for a time, had considered joining the Marines and had also met with recruiters from the Army. Ultimately, I chose a different path, but many of my classmates didn’t.
In 2001, my friends and I weren’t thinking about “armed conflicts” and “boots on the ground,” but man, were we in for a surprise later that September.
I remember that feeling in my stomach when the newscasters said military forces would soon be deployed to Iraq.
That meant several people I loved were going to be in real and imminent danger.
War and all the scary things that come with it became much more real to me.
Fortunately, I still get to honor my loved ones’ service on Veterans Day, rather than Memorial Day. But knowing the losses they incurred in the war, I still think of them anyway.
I know they lost people that I never met, who they still think about every day.
It’s for those we lost in that war, and every other military conflict before and after, that we celebrate Memorial Day.
Yes, it’s more than the unofficial start of the summer, though I fear that’s what it’s been relegated to for many Americans these…
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