A Day To Remember...
I feel the need this week to step outside the French Quarter for a bit - In the United States this weekend is Memorial Day, a day to honor those that have given their lives to "Protect, Preserve, and Defend the Constitution of The United States of America." As a retired military veteran I want to take this space to offer my memorial...
Memorial Day originated during the Civil War when a Virginia woman, Cassandra Oliver Moncure chose May 30th to decorate both Union and Confederate soldiers' graves. Of French origin, she may have chosen May 30th because in France this date was "the day of the ashes." This French Memorial Day commemorated the return of Napoleon's remains to France from St. Helena. Today Memorial Day in the U.S., with the propensity to have 3 day weekends, may not be on May 30th but is still a day to honor all those that served and died.
Revolutionary War: 4,435 dead - 6,188 wounded
War of 1812: 2,260 dead - 4,505 wounded
Mexican American War: 13,238 dead - 1,662 wounded
Civil War: 497,333 dead - 281,881 wounded**
Spanish American War: 2,446 dead - 1,662 wounded
WWI: 116,708 dead - 204,002 wounded
WWII: 407,315 dead - 671,846 wounded - 78,000 MIA/POW
Korea: 37,118 dead - 103,284 wounded - 8,100 MIA/POW
Vietnam: 58,183 dead - 303,695 wounded - 2,100 MIA/POW
Gulf War: 299 dead - 187 wounded - 13 MIA/POW
*Casulty figures contain both battle deaths and other "in theater" deaths.
** Civil War figures are estimates only, many believe, myself among them, that these figures are much too low.
That is over 1,034,381 dead, 1,397,800 wounded and 88,213 missing or prisone\ors of war and still unaccounted for. Add on peace time deaths and injuries from training accidents, etc., and you end up with numbers that are difficult to imagine.
So on this "first long weekend of summer", in between the picnics, bar-b-ques, first trip to the beach... take a moment and think about "Those That Have Gone Before". the ones that paid the ultimate price for the freedoms that everyone in the United States enjoys today - And while you're at it, take a moment to think of those that are serving now - Since the founding of our country we have from time to time called on our young men and women to pick up arms, leave their family, friends and loved ones behind and put their lives on the line. The least we can do is remember and thank them.
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