By Alex Garrett
As the grills fired up this Memorial Day weekend, the wreathes continue to be laid down in honor of the fallen that make this weekend even possible ! Yes, it’s the wreathes and the playing of Taps and the local community ceremonies and parades featuring WWII, Korean, Vietnam and modern day veterans that keep reminding us why Memorial Day is important. I’m here to say instead of commercializing this day and this weekend, let’s MODERNIZE it.
What used to be a massive soundstage and viewing area for the Little Neck-Douglaston parade in Queens was this year a seating area and tents , signaling a small community coming together to honor those that served that part of Queens proudly. I loved spending time with veterans from our different wars that remembered the fallen and thanked God they are still alive today to tell their story. You will hear from some on my podcast this week! As beautiful and monumental as that gathering always is, we can grow it again post-pandemic.
Remember three years ago when we lauded our healthcare workers and first responders and how we called COVID a battle field. There was even a fight to get them much-deserved hazard pay like the hard-working men and women of our military. Though it was not as dramatic as the proud imagery of our troops storming Normandy, or the triumphal through Times Square after defeating Nazi Germany, those images of our doctors and nurses taking COVID tests felt like watching troops in the battlefield.
So let’s modernize Memorial Day by laying a wreath for those in healthcare that fought a rigorous battle against COVID-19! In 2021 alone, WHO estimates that between 80 000 and 180 000 health and care workers could have died from COVID-19! (https://www.who.int/news/item/20-10-2021-health-and-care-worker-deaths-during-covid-19) Hearing from families and colleagues of healthcare workers lost will also help bring understanding to a generation traumatized by COVID-19 that may not understand or even be taught honoring those who sacrificed in the many wars America has battled is really important.
Bridging the gap between the Greatest Generation and a Lost Generation of kids due to COVID-19 is OF MAJOR IMPORTANCE. Honoring the healthcare heroes, heroes that our kids today saw in action, is the way to do it. Like those who battled on behalf of America in both World Wars, the War for Independence, and all the wars following, this generation saw a group of men and women don PPP and say fuck it. We will do what it takes to stop the spread of COVID-19. Those on the battlefield and those in the emergency room and operating room have shown equal selflessness risking death and even dying at the cost of keeping Americans safe and yes FREE.
I understand the firing of artillery while under fire from sea to air also sets apart our amazing veterans of all our wars from the COVID-19 pandemic. Preserving their stories and that history is pivotal to America’s existence. I also believe the principle of what each sector fought for is to keep America as safe as possible , even if it was a so-called jab to the arm, it was a vaccine that proved EFFECTIVE.
It is safe to say Memorial Day Weekend brings up time to get together , and yes those shameless sales companies do lessening the point of Memorial Day. But if we don’t help generations after recognize the real meaning of Memorial Day this nation will not be kept intact.
As Ben Franklin once said of America that we are ‘A Republic, if you can keep it.’ Honoring this generation of battle-tested heroes in the healthcare system may be a step toward keeping our nation alive!
OneLegUpAlex 