Memorial Day

In spite of who I am, a naturalized German, I celebrate Memorial Day.  Why?  Let me give you some history that will explain my feelings about this holiday.

My father was an officer in the German Army and because of who he was, was rewarded with a post in Stalingrad, Russia.  One evening he took his men out on a patrol and my father stepped on a fragmentation mine.  The majority of his patrol died instantly and the survivors were injured and maimed in the process.  Due to his injuries, my father was put on a plane for transfer to hospital behind the fighting lines.  He was fortunate, because his plane was the last one to leave Stalingrad before the city was overrun. 

America resoundly defeated Germany and I am eternally grateful to the many Americans that died in the process of liberating my country.   This does not negate the service of my father because I can separate the two issues.  One, the service of a soldier and the other, the leader that caused the war.  A comparison would be the very unpopular Vietnam conflict.  Americans could not separate the act of a soldier from the leaders that created the conflict.  By the time Desert Storm, Iraq and Afghanistan came, the American people understood that you may disagree with the policy of the government, but you still must honor the service of the men and women fighting the wars.

In the eighties, my father came to visit America.  Driving around the country, he said very quietly, "How could Germany defeat a country like this."  He admired the friendliness and acceptance he was given by people where ever we stopped.

This is why I celebrate my adopted country's Memorial Day.