Skip to Content

Why Memorial Day Is For All Veterans

Sharing is caring!

This post could contain affiliate links or be sponsored which means I earn from advertising. Also as an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. More details here.

I’m sure there will be more than a few who disagree with me on this thought but it’s my thought and I cannot change the way I feel. Over Memorial Day I read several reminders of what the holiday truly is all about. It seems to play out this way each year. And each year I contemplate. The reminders are always very similar to that of years past. Every year it’s as if there is a definite need to remind us all of exactly what the holiday is and isn’t. Let me start by saying that yes, I know Memorial Day and Veteran’s Day are separate holidays. Each has its own meaning and should be treated with respect. However, I disagree with the fact that Memorial Day is only about those who have fallen. It is about those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice but it’s also about so many more who sacrificed in other ways. In my mind Memorial Day IS for all veterans.

 

Why Memorial Day Is For All Veterans

He wore a flattop for the majority of his life. The first 28 years of my own life it’s how I knew him. It wasn’t until a year before his death that his wife finally convinced him to grow it out. He was part of the amphibious landing on Korea. He saw things that many of us have only ever seen in movies. Those movies that he always refused to watch… Memories from an entire lifetime ago that still continued to haunt.

Part of him died in Korea. 

His job in the army was working in the laundry. Only after his death in 2007 did I learn that the laundry also meant he got to tag and bag after the fighting was over. They were ambushed on many occasions because the other side knew that Americans would respect their fallen by giving a proper burial. The enemy would lie in wait for the troops who came to retrieve those who perished. 

Part of him died in Korea.

He spent time in the VA hospital a few years after his return home. That which was weighing him down had grown too great. While in the hospital he underwent electroconvulsive therapy as it was supposed to fix him. It did but also took more of him away. He was a different person than when he left for Korea in his youth.

Part of him died in Korea.

He never talked about his time in Korea but became extremely bothered over the years when protests against his country were made by its own citizens. He and so many others fought so that people could have that right. It hurt him deeply because it was as if people had forgotten. Ultimately had forgotten what they truly had. Or rather never experienced what another did not have.

Part of him died in Korea.

Perhaps the flattop helped him to remember how far he had come. To remember that he had given so much for his country but survived. For me the flattop represented his service and just how much he sacrificed. His life was altered tremendously by what he gave. Part of him remained in Korea. Part of him died there. It was left in his friends who didn’t make it back. It stayed in the country. He was broken and pieces of him were never fully able to be repaired. He was changed forever and part of him did indeed die. So Memorial Day IS for him even though he wasn’t truly a fallen soldier. 

As much as I miss him I know that he’s finally at peace. Finally at rest in Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery. It was owed to him because he gave so much of himself for his country. Part of him died for his country.

He is my Boompa.

***

Follow Seeing Dandy on Facebook

And…

Click below to get all the dandy in your inbox!


Tara

blog owner at Seeing Dandy Blog
A mom blogger for over 15 years, Tara Smith lives in St. Louis, Missouri with her audiologist husband and four kids. Her blog has been featured on local media television shows like News 4 Great Day and Show Me St. Louis, as well as in the Farmhouse Style Magazine for Country Sampler. She loves to travel, explore the Midwest, make crafts and read.

This post could contain affiliate links or be sponsored which means I earn from advertising. Also as an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. More details here.

Sharing is Caring

Help spread the word about all the dandiness. Thank you, friends! You're so dandy for doing it!