Known and Unknown
….we cannot dedicate – we cannot consecrate – we cannot hallow – this
ground….. This words, spoken by
Abraham Lincoln at the dedication of the cemetery on the Gettysburg
battlefield, ring true at every gravesite honoring the memory of those who gave
the “last full measure of devotion”.
Memorial Day comes upon us each year
with dual personalities. Yes, it marks
the “official” beginning of summer.
Pools are opened. The traffic
pattern changes dramatically for the weekends as people travel to their
favorite beach destination. “Comfort
food eating” becomes what comes off the grill.
And of course there are the ubiquitous sales. We revel in red, white and blue
patriotism.
The other side of Memorial Day is
far more somber. Rolling Thunder rides
into Washington, D.C. to remind us all that there are still those who went to
serve our country and never returned. A
wreath is laid at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. A large television audience will tune into
PBS on Sunday night for the Memorial Day Concert on the Washington Mall. Memorial Day is a time to remember those who
died in service to their country.
We know the iconic image of the Tomb
of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington National Cemetery and the ever-faithful,
ever-vigilant sentinels of the 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment (Old
Guard). This picture is the monument to
the Unknown Soldiers at Antietam. There
are also the nameless small headstones placed there according to state designation.
Those two words, “unknown” and
“known”, have a personal connection to me and to my immediate family, as do the
two cemeteries, Antietam and Arlington.
My great-uncle, Pvt. Henry Twichell,
Co. B., 145th Reg’t, PA Vol. Inf, was a farm boy from a VERY rural
area of northwest Pennsylvania. He,
along with other boys from Crawford County, volunteered to serve in the Union
Army. They enlisted in Erie, PA, and
were at Harper’s Ferry when the battle of Antietam was raging. My
great-uncle’s first duty of war, September 1862, was to dig mass graves for the
dead from a battle that has the sad distinction of being the “bloodiest day
(Sept. 17) in the Civil War” and “bloodiest day of battle in our American
history”.
“Known and unknown” coming together
as these young men from a rural county miles away labored in the hot sun amid
the devastation of a fresh field of battle to bury the dead – other young men
whom they did not know. It must have
been horrific. Yet they did their duty
and in so doing honored those who had given the last full measure of
devotion. Memorial Day is more than a
“thank you for your service” and then off to a picnic. Memorial Day is and must be a witness to the
cost of our political and societal decisions.
Pvt. Charles Ross Neilon, 57th
Engineers, (and yes, the gravestone has a “B” not a “R”) died just days before
end of World War I. He is an uncle
through marriage. His grave is one of
many in the World War I section of Arlington National Cemetery.
Again I think of “known and unknown”
as I walk through the sacred grounds of Arlington National Cemetery. We know about the family stories of Ross
Neilon. His sister, my husband’s
grandmother, kept the letter the family received in a purse that has always remained
in a rosewood chest now residing in my
living room. What is unknown is what
Uncle Ross would have done with his life had he returned to California. What kind of person would he have become? How might he have contributed to the
well-being of his community? We can
speculate knowing the values of his family, but it will always be unknown.
Each tombstone that honors one who
gave his or her life in service to their county is a tombstone that honors the
unknown even if the name of the person is known. For each person’s potential for the future
was cut short because of the decisions of others to escalate into war. Even if the last full measure was not
required, the very participation in this form of “problem-solving” changes a
person.
Peacemaking has to begin with each
of us if we are going to change the course of history’s penchant to resolve
differences with violence. Memorial Day
must be a yearly time of reflection about what each of us, individually, can do
to lesson acts of hate, increase places where differences can be explored and
resolved, refuse to sanction discrimination and oppression, and speak out
against evil intent to dehumanize or eliminate our sisters and brothers. Peacemaking is hard work but the alternative
is more rows of grave sites.
Blessed
are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. (Matthew 5:9)
Grace and
Peace
Rev Clara
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