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JULY/AUGUST 2004
Memorial Day
The following article is the
Memorial Service Speech given by
John Iorio at The Italian Club
Cemetery.
Today is not an occasion for grieving,
but a day if observance – a day for
honoring and remembering. The dead
do not ask for much.
For many, Memorial Day has lost its
memorial dimensions amidst the
scurrying for surf and fishing,
shopping and feasting. This is all
right as long as we remember that the
freedom to do such things – our way
of life – was bought by the sacrifice
of others. If we don’t remember, it’s a
sad commentary on our society.
As you know, Memorial Day began in
1868 to honor the dead of the Civil
War. Today, half dozen wars later, we
honor all the dead.
But honoring the dead has been part
of cultures since ancient times. A
nation or community that does not
honor the dead will not have
longevity.
We have much to learn from them.
The dead are never silent. At times
they speak in thunderous
denunciation. At times they speak in
thunderous affirmation. “Learn the
lessons!” They say. The least we can
do is listen. They do not ask for
much.
So by honoring them we learn from
them. And what do we learn For me
they pass on four lessons:
1. That war brings out the worst
and the best in people.
2. That our way of life is based
on the sacrifice of others.
3. That we must recognize the
difference between humility
and arrogance.
4. That the past must be
honored.
Let me explain. We are living in
troubled times. We are now fighting
two wars. One is traditional with
armies, with land and cities to
capture. The other is new to us. It is
without boundaries, with spiritual
infra-structures and invisible battles.
No matter what kind of wars we fight,
however, they always bring out the
worst and the best in people. The bad
we know. It is in the news every day.
As wars become more remote with
planes and smart bombs as opposed to
sword and arrow, the news becomes
more immediate, so that today we
escape nothing. The good and the bad
sit daily by our morning coffee.
For some, war releases the constraints
of moral expectations and what is left
are the beleaguered values that are
instilled in them. If individuals have
weak or no values, war offers and
opportunity for all that is negative and
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destructive in human beings. In those
with strong and positive values, war
releases the capacity for compassion,
sacrifice and help. All these values
are first learned at home and later
affirmed in war.
For every soldier I knew who shot
prisoners, there were thousands who
did not. For every soldier who raped,
there were thousands who did not.
For every soldier who dehumanized
others, there were thousands who
showed the humane face of America.
Somewhere in France there is a man
in his seventies who probably
remembers that as a young boy,
crippled and stumbling among the
garbage pails where we threw our
leftovers, he could not compete with
the others and often left without a
scrap of food. A group of us saved
part of our meals for the boy for a
week or so. It was not significant
enough to make the news, but it was
significant enough to reveal humane
values that endured in hardened
soldiers.
The dead also tell us that our lives are
based on sacrifice. St John said,
“Greater love hath no man than this:
that a man lay down his life for his
friends.” In Iraq, 800 have already
done this. In the Battle of the Bulge,
for fifty days we had 1500 casualties
a day including 400 dead.
They did not die as Democrats or
Republicans. Ideology withers in
combat. They did not die as black or
white or Asian Americans. They did
not die as Catholics or
fundamentalists. Their sacrifices
transcended politics, transcended race
and transcended religion. New
Yorkers died for Mississippians and
Mississippians died for New Yorkers.
Continued on page 21.