Memorial Day thoughts!

      Tomorrow is Memorial Day, which is set aside to honor our war dead, of which there are many. The day evokes patriotism which can be a slippery slope. Someone said "Patriotism is the refuge of scoundrels." Perhaps that is true but at least it has been invoked for many ill causes.

    My stint in the Marines, with the exception of bootcamp, was all spent in the same infantry company. The company changed its affiliation when rotated overseas. It went from H Company, 5th Marine Division to M Company 3rd Marine Division. Half of the company that had previously been overseas left and were replaced by Marines just out of bootcamp. The company commander, officers and ncos, remained with the company.

   The First Sergeant of the company was Louis Ricatto. He'd begun his military career in the Army and transferred to the Marines. Approaching 30 years of service he turned 48, which we thought was ancient. He was a good first sergeant, the senior enlisted man in the company. Working in the office with him for years, as Ed and I did, he came to trust us and would occasionally seek our opinion. 

   Often he expressed his opinions to us. One that comes to mind is his rant about young Marines not being patriotic. This came to mind at a Veteran's Day event in Mohall, N.D., where I was serving as pastor. In that program the statement was made "Every veteran is a patriot." First Sergeant would disagree and so would I. Take Rocky Slater, a member of our company, for example. Rocky was from the Bronx and a repeat petty criminal. A judge gave him a choice "Enlist in the Marines or go to jail." In terms of reformation it was working because he accepted Marine discipline and likely got an honorable discharge. But patriotism had nothing to do with his service. Other examples could be cited.

   The marriage of military service with patriotism is not helpful. Many veterans were not, are not, patriotic, in fact several have been convicted of attacking the Capitol on January 6.  On the other hand those who were not in the military can also be patriotic. Americanism is as dangerous as many other 'isms'. 

Takk for alt,

Al

                                             In formation Camp Sukiran, Okinawa, 1961.