Exact figures are elusive, but a variety of sources put the number of people who have given their lives in American military conflicts from the beginning of the revolution until the most recent fighting in Iran at more than 1.2 million.
That includes those who died in direct combat and those who died in accidents, by diseases or in any other way related to military service. The distinction really doesn’t matter. All gave their lives while serving their country.
That is a staggering number to contemplate as the nation prepares to observe its 250th birthday in July. It becomes more staggering when one considers that the largest single share of those, 620,000, died in the Civil War. Noteworthy is also the cost of war in other countries, including the Soviet Union, with losses during World War II that reached tens of millions of soldiers and civilians.
Passionate patriots
Americans have always been passionate about defining freedom and amending laws in order to reflect an ideal definition of it. Unfortunately, sometimes they will come to blows over these definitions, as in the Civil War.
The nation’s Founders did a remarkable job of crafting a Constitution that keeps power in check while protecting basic freedoms and liberties, and yet the execution of those ideals has often been less than perfect. It is a testament to the beauty and inspired nature of that document that it endures and Americans continue to try to uphold its standards to this day.
Monday is Memorial Day. People sometimes joke it is the only holiday on the calendar that is not profitable to greeting card companies. That doesn’t mean it has been above trivialization. Many view it as the unofficial first day of summer; a time for barbecues and family gatherings.
There is nothing inherently wrong with this, and yet it is important to devote at least part of the day toward the memory of those who have passed, and the debt a free and prosperous nation owes to their sacrifice. It is especially important that some of this time is devoted toward teaching these things to children, and toward teaching them that war is a last resort that all too often becomes necessary.
Born in battle
This day should be a fitting prelude to the 250th birthday celebration. It is not meant to be relentlessly sad or tragic. It is, however, a time to contemplate how the nation was born in battle, and how the hearts of many American men and women have always prized liberty enough to die for it.
That is as true today as at any time in history. At least 13 service members have been killed during the most recent conflict in Iran, with hundreds more injured. Those who sign up for military service do not have time to worry about whether a conflict is popular. They answer the call and willingly sacrifice “the last full measure of devotion,” as Abraham Lincoln famously put it in his Gettysburg Address. Their selflessness is a resounding rebuke to those who would relentlessly use words to attack political foes over trivialities in a dangerous world.
Originally known as Decoration Day, the observance began as a way to honor those who fought in the Civil War. That scope expanded after World War I to honor veterans of all American wars. Memorial Day was officially declared a federal holiday in 1971.
Unfortunately, each generation has hoped that its conflict would be the last such sacrifice necessary for the preservation of freedom. This is never the case, and a world darkening again with conflicts and competing ideologies seems to beckon patriots once more toward the need to defend freedoms anew.
We hope that is not true. Americans should wish for a future Memorial Day when no one holds in their recent memories the loss of loved ones to armed conflict. But the nation should always be grateful that heroes willingly step forward.