A Day of Remembrance

We went to the Memorial Day Parade in my Mom’s town on Monday.
She lives in senior housing right on the parade route; so we have a little lunch and put out the chairs and watch the parade go by. It’s small town stuff. The parade is largely dominated by girl scouts, brownies, daisies (whatever the heck those are) cub scouts, boy scouts, little leaguers… and more brownies. I think some towns really ought to put a limit on these extraneous little marchers. This parade is about veterans, and soldiers and cops and firemen and those who protect us. I don’t want to lose that in a myriad of candy tossing 8 year olds.

I am very moved by this parade.

First, there is the excitement of the fly over. This year we got two jets, low enough to tremble our lawn chairs. This is the part my patriotic wife really likes.
She LOVES the flyover.

In those jets are young pilots. Young people who have dedicated their lives to protecting me. I have nothing but respect… and admiration for these people.
On a good year we will get to see vets from each military branch, from a variety of wars from WWII to Vietnam and Korea, the Gulf war…the Cuban missile crisis… well?….

As I am sure is the case in other small towns we also toss in most of our fire trucks, ambulances, police cars and motorcycles …and horses if you got ‘em. These are a brave bunch as well. They fight the battles here at home.

And so we sit waving our flags… to say “Thank You”.

This year, as we had lunch we watched two couples come up the hill towards the parade route. The man from each couple proudly wore a Garrison hat with his post assignment. One man had the arm of his wife, gently supporting her, my mother explained that she has Alzheimer’s and so he is always right there at her side. The other man used a cane, and probably should have been driven up the long hill – but he was clearly a soldier… and so he walked.

The couples settled in their chairs with front row seats, we were seated just behind them (it’s a small town parade – everyone can have a front row seat… we just wanted to be in the sun).
From this vantage point we got to see the salute when the WWII vets paraded by -- from one Vet to another. It wasn’t a standard military, stiff, formal salute; it was an informal, small motion, yet the meaning that it held was gigantic.
I can’t truly explain the feeling I had at that moment. I am welling up in just re-telling the story. In just that small gesture, in just the look across Anytown Main Street– from one soldier to another – there was a world of history, of emotion, of camaraderie, of respect, of brotherhood – between men who most likely had never met before. I was so choked up I couldn’t speak. These frail old men, who struggled up the hill – are my brave and strong heros.