Remembering Veterans, Remembering My Father

Americans are preparing to celebrate Memorial Day, a day to remember those who have given their lives in the US armed forces. Though its origins date back to 1868, it wasn’t declared a National Holiday until Congress passed the National Holiday Act in 1971.

If you’ve never seen a military cemetery around Memorial Day, it’s a very moving event. I had the opportunity to be in Luxembourg for Memorial Day weekend many years ago. I was able to visit the Luxembourg American Cemetery and Memorial, a military cemetery near Hamm, Luxembourg which is dedicated to American soldiers who fell freeing Luxemburg from Nazi rule. While there, I witnessed American soldiers who were setting flags near each headstone. They carefully placed the heels of their boots at each headstone, planting an American flag at the tip of their boot. Each soldier had to complete an entire row, so all the flags would be even. When I spoke to one of the soldiers, I was told that she had volunteered for the duty. It was the least she could do, she said, for what these soldiers had already did.

Looking across that cemetery in Luxembourg, you’ll see row upon row of graves, mostly with crosses for headstones. Regardless of your faith, seeing them all together, lined up in neat rows with perfectly and lovingly placed flags, is heart wrenching.

The Veterans Administration is the government entity in charge of administering services to Veterans, including burial and gravesite services. Back then, the VA gave families very few options for religious symbols, most likely only either a cross or a Star of David. Thankfully, that has changed. The US Military now recognizes 41 emblems that can be placed on military headstones, including a Pentacle. (http://www.cem.va.gov/hm/hmemb.asp)

But getting the Pentacle on the list wasn’t easy. It took a legal battle of almost epic proportions and years of hard work by many people to finally get the Pentacle recognized. (See Star’s article.)

And it’s important that it is recognized. Pagans, like those of many of faiths, serve in the US Military. Pagans have given their dedication and skills in service to the freedoms established by the US Constitution. And like many of other faiths, some Pagans have given their lives in that service. It is only right that a symbol of their faith should be a monument to that service.

Now, I’m not pro-war by any stretch of the imagination, but I’m the sister of a former Marine and the daughter of a WWII vet. My brother served on a carrier off the coast of Libya at a time when the US could easily have been drawn into war. I am thankful every day that he never saw combat, but he was there and ready to serve regardless.

My father served under General Patton (who, fittingly enough, is buried there in Luxembourg, facing his troops) and survived North Africa, Sicily and landing at the Normandy Beaches on D+4. He made his way through the Battle of the Bulge and was there to see the fall of Berlin. He was offered 7 medals during his service, including a Purple Heart for being wounded. But he turned them all down. When I asked him once why he didn’t take them, he said he didn’t deserve them. He said the ones who deserved them were the ones who came home in a box, or who were buried on foreign soil.

Daddy died long before the legal battle over the Pentacle on military headstones ever took place. But what I learned from him what that, in combat, no one cares to whom you pray. No one cares if you say prayers in English, Latin, Hebrew, Arabic, or Gaelic. No one cares what you use to symbolize your faith. It is, sadly, the one occasion in which societal lines of faith, race, gender or orientation have no bearing. You can only rely to the person next to you and be relied upon in return. There are no other criteria.

I’d like to think I try to remember those lessons, even though I pray I will never see combat. And to remember to honor those who have given their lives in service, no matter their faith, race, gender or orientation. I’d like to remember one thing, that they stood, and fell, to protect my right to stand around a cauldron and call upon the name of the Goddess.

On May 2, 2000, a resolution for a National Moment of Remembrance was issued from the White House. In it, it asks all Americans to pause from their activities at 3 pm local time on Memorial Day and, in their own way, to remember the men and women whose service to our freedoms cost them their own lives. I plan on doing so. I hope you will, too.

It would make my Daddy proud.