Memorial Day Remarks 2013

The content below was delivered as a speech at the city of High Point, North Carolina's 10th Annual memorial day ceremony.  This year the ceremony was dedicated to a new plaque for the African American soldiers who died in defense of our nation during WWII.

Today is Memorial Day. An old tradition that as an official American holiday began to be first celebrated in 1868.  Begun so that communities could commemorate their OWN fallen, among the hundreds of thousands of young Americans who gave their lives during our bloodiest war. Over time those local memorial services at the end of May grew into a great national tradition.

After over a hundred years of community memorials, the US congress finally acted. In 1967 they federalized the holiday, and one year later it legislated the now familiar ‘last Monday in May’ calendar placement. By the early seventies, all US states recognized the federal holiday.

Somewhere on the order of one million American soldiers have died in the nearly two and a half centuries of our national history. These men and women, define diversity. African Americans whose contribution to the Great Struggle against Fascism abroad during WWII we especially honor today have actually served in all our wars.

Immigrants from all four corners of the globe have served and died in our armed forces. Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, and Coast Guard, have all sacrificed their members, Active, Reserve, National Guard and Militia. Christian, Jew, Atheist, Buddhist, and Muslim; Gay and Straight; Democrat, Republican, Whig and Socialist; liberal, conservative, moderate. There have been restrictions on military service over the years, but our war dead represent every part of our great national constituency.

Among those who have fallen recently are many that I called comrade, friend, or brother. Not blood brothers, but “Band of Brothers;” Chris, Segun, Kevin, Casey, Wil, Mark. are a few of the names that I can’t summon to mind without a lingering sadness. This is the burden of service in our current military. Wherever one’s politics lie, these men and four thousand other Americans who have recently made the ultimate sacrifice deserve our respect and a moment of our time. They deserve a day.

As memorial day weekend begins I think of these brothers. My heart always turns first to Specialist Segun Akintade. Before deployment to Iraq I had served as his team leader. A Nigerian immigrant, an American Citizen by choice and affirmation, his full name was an alphabet soup of Nigerian naming conventions. To those who served with us,  he was and always will be Obi Wan.

He chose America seeing a better life for himself and his family here. He was putting himself through college at NYCCT, in New York. He worked nights at Goldman Sachs in an administrative support position. And out of Pride in his New country and because it made financial sense Obi Wan joined the Army National Guard.

He clearly loved being a soldier. He was tall, athletic, focused. He spoke in a deep fierce voice so thick with accent sometimes he was hard to understand. Deploying to Iraq after witnessing the aftermath of September 11, Segun never quite understood the connection. But as a man who had lived in the developing world he had deep abiding compassion for the people of Iraq.

On October 28 In Mushada Iraq, Segun Akintade was riding in the Turret of his squads hummvee when Iraqi Insurgents detonated an IED. His wounds were devastating, as shrapnel passed under the back of his helmet.

Never the less, two of his battle buddies, both civilian first responders with far better lifesaving skills then most line medics, worked feverishly, though in vain, to save him.

I miss my friend. And every Memorial Day I am in contact with my mates from that deployment.

Today, even in recent conflict, our Army is smaller than it has been in a long time. As we wind down nearly a decade and a half conflict Memorial Day has lost part of its meaning for many Americans. Some thank me, as if today were Veterans Day. But it's not. It's not about those of us who have fought and come home. It's about those who never came back.

It does highlight a significant lingering effect of our all volunteer force. We are in some ways more divided from our society than in past conflicts. Fewer Americans today are Gold Star families. And in some ways that is a good thing. We are fighting with smaller smarter forces. We have soldiers surviving wounds that would have killed them in the past.

We must recognize and work to lessen this divide. These men and women whose bravery and sacrifice we recognize here today, their memories may belong only to their families and their mates, but their honor and their sacrifice belong to all Americans.

Veterans, this divide is not only on civilians, but on us. We need to allow Americans to reconnect to our history, our traditions and our national honor. This weekend when folks thank me for my service, I kindly remind them it's not about me, but our national sacrifice.