Another Phony Day of Memories

The drums of war continue to beat in the phony guise of patriotism, peace and justice. Flyovers, flag waving and disingenuous political doublespeak about the “service” and “honor” of “heroes” fighting for peace and protection of the homeland will be in excess today, Memorial Day 2012.

The mainstream media continues to be the megaphone of the masters of war. They portray this as a day to honor those who gave the ultimate sacrifice for their country. They protect the old fools who continue to sacrifice the youth of the nation for the racketeers Smedley Butler so eloquently spoke about in his repudiation of American wars and the use of the military as the thugs for the rich.

Today’s media will show inspiring stories of the young soldiers with lost legs and arms carrying on. They’ll show poignant reunions of parents returning from war surprising their families. Sports stadiums will be used as platforms to beat our chests in patriotic moments of field sized flags, color guards and the singing of patriotic songs. The military will provide uniformed troops to be present for a free game to recognize their service.

The moment that made the strongest statement about the truth of combat came yesterday for me. I happened upon a television story detailing the return of old WWII Marines returning to Iwo Jima for the first time since their combat on that island. A time when over 6,000 of their fellow Marines were killed.

The elderly Marines all wore caps declaring themselves as survivors of Iwo Jima. It all seemed a surreal exercise in patriotism. But then the faces of the old Marines changed as they got their first glimpse of Iwo. That thousand yard stare appeared on their faces. Many of them had tears streaming down their cheeks. It was clear the memories of carnage and death had come rushing back to these Marines and they were no longer old. They were 18, 19, 20 years old again. And the pain of their war was clearly expressed in their faces.

As I watched the old guys I found myself flashing back to my own memories. Tears began streaming down my own cheeks. There was no pride in my heart. No pride in the memories of my war. Only regret and grief.

But today will be an exercise in denial. The people of this nation will not be expected to reflect on the reasons the youth of every generation has been sacrificed for the rich and their puppet government stooges. The American people will not be expected to understand American exceptionalism is merely another way of saying imperialism. Instead they will get a steady dose of patriotic denial and a message it is necessary to consume excessively. And maybe for a short time remember sons and daughters that were fed into the war machine and never allowed to return.

We want to believe we are a righteous and religious nation. We want to believe we follow the ideals of Christ and other prophets of God. We just don’t want to believe none of them ever advocated the insanity and sin of war.

Memorial Day 2012 is just like all the others I’ve experienced since my return from Vietnam in 1969. A damn lie of phony patriotic zeal that fails to understand we sacrificed our young for nothing more than keeping the racketeers of Wall Street, Big Oil, Big Banks and multinational corporations in power.