Memorial Day 2024 Tribute

At the beginning of the movie The Book of Eli, Eli uses a crossbow to slay a cat and grill it over an open flame on a makeshift rotisserie in an abandoned shell of a former house. As Eli rotisseries the kitty, that was incidentally eating a corpse when he slayed it, he has the foresight and survival instincts to save any fat drippings falling off of his prized catch as it cooks. He later attempts to trade the melted fat or “cat oil” as a substitute for lip balm, which is one of the most valuable commodities besides water. Although I am known as “The Grill Master” and I am pretty frugal as well, I’ve never contemplated saving the fat drippings off of anything to be used for any purpose.

The annihilation of the world that took place 30 years earlier in the movie’s timeline reminded me of how sketchy things really were for us Baby Boomers growing up in the 1970’s. We probably just never knew how close we actually came to nuclear annihilation. I lived in a New England town surrounded by defense industry manufacturing companies. I am sure a Book of Eli post-apocalyptic scenario was a lot more probable than we were led to believe. We were always comforted by the fact that we had common beliefs and values based on freedom, liberty, and community and there were a bunch of people with high moral standards backing us up and who were ready to fight and give their lives in the process. Without them, I am sure we would have gotten there. It is to them that we owe our freedom.

I always think about my Dad and the men in his unit in Korea who were KIA and how it greatly affected him for his short 52 years. I have his address book which listed some of his combat activities during the war. He was a highly decorated soldier and was recommended for the Silver Star medal as a result of combat activities during the battle of Old Baldy. I asked the personal internet of my brain, where real artificial intelligence can truly be found, to define the term swagger. It decided to define the term with an image. This is what came back:

I remember Dad on this Memorial Day 2024. He gave his life later on due to the impacts of an honorable service to our country while many of his teammates gave their lives to the cause during battle. I remember every soldier who gave it all on the battlefield. Survivor’s guilt and PTSD are difficult things and can take a toll on someone for many years. They didn’t have PTSD programs in 1953. You toughed it out and tried to find something to numb the stress, mental anguish and the nightmares. Everyone gave some, but some gave it all. For all Americans, blessings, honor, and glory to God was given by those who gave it all, for: Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. (John 15:13 NIV). May God Bless all the soldiers and their families on this weekend of remembrance. Amen.