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The Importance of Forever Words: A Personal Reflection on Memorial Day

Tuesday May 29, 2012

By Cookie Steponaitis

     Students stand and recite the Pledge of Allegiance each day in classrooms across America but just how many of those voices resonate with an understanding or even more importantly a conscious commitment to what they are saying? As Americans we take many of our rights and freedoms as a given and think of them as permanent parts of our heritage and future. Yet, the truth is that America is an experiment in democracy, kept strong by the commitment of each generation to know and understand what democracy is and what the commitment to the ideals in the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution involve. Our rituals like the Pledge of Allegiance are more than historic links to a time long past. They are statements of purpose and intent, linking one generation to the Revolution of 1776 and the growth of a nation since then.

    Memorial Day is both a solemn and a celebratory event, bringing together the families of Vermont to both enjoy and celebrate the long weekend with food, family and warm weather, and the serious side of the holiday with tribute, reflection and discussion around those Americans who have given their lives in order that this nation may endure and continue. While not all Americans take on the mantle of the military and serve in that capacity, the reality is every American is able to contribute to their community and town in many tangible ways. The messages sent forward in time in the Preamble of the U.S. Constitution, Pledge of Allegiance, and the immortal words of leaders like Abraham Lincoln and Thomas Jefferson are not simply phrases to be recited and forgotten, but expectations that one generation will pass on to the next, insuring an educated and informed public actively involved with the running of the nation and the protection of the U.S. Constitution.

    This year as the U.S. flag moves by in the Memorial Day Parade or is flying in the breeze on countless homes, or is lying on the coffin of a service man or woman who has given his or her ultimate gift of sacrifice for our freedom, pause and think about those forever words and what they mean in your life. If we truly understand what it means to be an American then those words are more than hollow phrases. They are a call to service to a nation that continues to be as strong as the next generation that the torch is passed to.        

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