It was Memorial Day 1996. Kathlena Peebles was a Junior at Highlands High School in North Highlands,California when she wrote the essay below as punishment for missing a Memorial Day band function. Instead, she chose to attend a Memorial Day presentation by her father’s submariner veterans group aboard the USS Pampanito, regardless of having an extra assignment because of her absence from a band performance.
As we’ve seen this week in Oklahoma, life can change in an instant–sometimes for the better; sometimes for the worse. Sometimes those life-altering moments are due to choices we make; sometimes they are not. Since our nation’s birth, brave men and women have made the choice to serve our country, knowing that they could lose their own lives in an instant. Almost weekly, we hear about everyday heroes, like the first responders in Oklahoma, who risk personal peril so they may help others. And, despite all of the depressing news that fill the airwaves, there are still young people like Kathlena Peebles who make choices like honoring her father and his fellow veterans, despite being punished. Her choice was also a gift to Americans across the country who have read her essay expressing the true spirit of the holiday at baseball games, picnics and Memorial Day services:
Memorial Day Essay by Kathlena Peebles:
Memorial Day, originally called Decoration Day, is a day set aside for remembrance of those who have died in our nations service. Memorial Day was first proclaimed on 5 May 1868 by General John Logan, in his General order number 11, and was first observed on 30 May 1868; when flowers were placed on the graves of Union and Confederate soldiers. The South, at first, refused to acknowledge, Memorial Day, honoring their dead on separate days until after WWI. It is now observed in almost every state of the union on the last Monday of every May. Since the Civil War more than 1.1 million veterans, both women and men, have lost their lives in service to America. Indeed the Civil War alone accounted for more than 600,000 dead.
On Memorial Day I had the opportunity to witness a memorial in San Francisco, aboard a submarine, the USS Pampanito, a submarine that was used in WWII and Korea. The United States submarine service suffered the highest percentage of casualties than any other of the services that served in WWII. They also sank over 55% of all Japanese shipping sunk in WWII. This was all pointed out to me with pride by several of these veterans.
As our National Anthem was played over the speaker system some of them started to cry as they remembered all of their fallen comrades, the ones that served with them, and the ones that did not. I thought about how many of these veterans’ brothers had made the ultimate sacrifice so that we may all enjoy the freedom this country offers.
As we stood for the Pledge of Allegiance I saw the reaction on their faces, it was a thoughtful, respectful look, a look of such sadness. I thought about what my dad’s submarine veterans’ group was really all about “To perpetuate the memory of our shipmates who gave their lives while serving in the United State Naval Submarines” I then started to cry myself with the realization of what that really meant. All those old sailors, my dad included, standing on the deck of an old submarine holding the flag with such pride and sadness.
Then it was time for the speakers to give their speeches about their experiences and the meaning of Memorial Day. A WWII veteran talked about the hardships and struggles and the fact that he was lucky to be alive when so many of his brothers had fallen victim to the war. One talked about how it was up to the veterans to teach “our children about the sacrifices made by so many”. Another said, “that America will only be the land of the free so long as it is the home of the Brave”. So many of the speakers spoke with so much pride about America that it was hard not to think about all the people who have no idea what this holiday is really about. While they go to their barbecues and beaches, there are some who keep up a tradition of pride in service to the United States of America and remember all those who had fallen, and rejoice in the ones who still live and remember. Let none of us ever forget what Memorial Day really is.
Choose selflessly this weekend,
~Bob
