Lincoln on Memorial Day

Lincoln of course was murdered before Decoration Day, the forerunner of Memorial Day, came into existence in 1868.  However, in the Gettysburg Address and his Second Inaugural, Lincoln pointed the way to how we should remember our war dead:

Gettysburg Address:

1. We are met on a great battle-field of that war.-  Recall the conflicts in which they died.

2. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.-  Decent burial and taking care of their graves is the very least we can do.

3. But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate — we can not consecrate — we can not hallow — this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract.  Lincoln  had the Bible in his bones.  He knew that a blood sacrifice made something sacred.

4. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here.  Sadly I doubt if children still memorize the Gettysburg Address as I did when I was in school.  Fewer Americans each year know anything about the Battle of Gettysburg.

5. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us — that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion — that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain — that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom — and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.  American troops should not be sent to fight and die unless the cause is of paramount importance to this nation.  And before troops are committed we must resolve to win.

Second Inaugural:

6.  With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation’s wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.  After the war is won the peace must also be won, and the veterans must be cared for who need it, and, above all,  the widows and orphans of our war dead must receive all the financial support they need.

These are all essential, but insufficient.

As Lincoln noted in the Gettysburg address, it is “altogether fitting and proper” that we honor our war dead, but in what way can we honor them?  The monuments we raise to them are really for us, to remind us of the value of valor and sacrifice.  They do not walk among us to view them.  They cannot tell us what they think of the speeches praising them or read the blog posts written about them.  Their lives are done and they have been judged by God, as we all will be judged, and are now in Eternity.  Other than the important task of praying for the repose of their souls, nothing that we say or do about them on Earth has any impact upon them.

We honor and remember them not to aid them, but to aid ourselves.  Gratitude is one of the noblest of human emotions, and it would say something appalling about us if we did not express it to our war dead.  Almost all men fear death, and we honor those who faced death for us.  Men who have had their lives taken away in our service, are entitled to all the gratitude we can muster.  If our war dead could speak to us I suspect they would echo the sentiments of the memorial to the dead of the British 2nd Division at Kohima, India:

“When You Go Home, Tell Them Of Us And Say,
For Their Tomorrow, We Gave Our Today”.

By expressing our gratitude we are attempting to pay a debt that can never be paid.  The objects of our gratitude are no longer with us, and so there is always a poignancy to these attempts to honor those who by their deaths made us their debtors.

The peace and freedom we enjoy have been purchased at a very high cost.  As Pope Benedict noted in a speech on August 18, 2008, “Freedom is not only a gift, but also a summons to personal responsibility. Americans know this from experience – almost every town in this country has its monuments honoring those who sacrificed their lives in defense of freedom, both at home and abroad.”   The best way for us to truly thank those who have died in our defense in our wars, is to live our lives with honor, doing as much good as we are able for the people we encounter during our journey through this vale of tears, and in that way attempt to make ourselves worthy of the price they paid.