Time, Again, to Reflect

Tomorrow is Veterans Day. Here are my reflections, and suggestions on how to mark the occasion.

Silence

Veterans Day used to be called Remembrance Day, which harks back to the World War I armistice, which occurred on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month.

For years it has been marked by silence. Let's try to continue this tradition in an overly plugged-in world.

Put down the Blackberry, pull out the earbuds, turn off the iPad, embrace the hush, and reflect.

Poetry

If you live in the Washington area, drop in at the semi-annual gathering of The Memorial Day Writers' Project, organized by a bunch of my veteran friends, including fellow Marine Mike McDonell.

These are veterans who dare to declaim and you can find them in a tent behind the sidewalk facing Constitution Avenue near 21st Street in Washington. The offerings range from the profane to the profound, and I guarantee a laugh, and possibly a tear or too.

Read

Check out The War I Always Wanted: The Illusion of Glory and the Reality of War, by Brandon Friedman, an Iraq 101st Airborne veteran and director of new media at the Veterans Affairs Department.

The reviews say Friedman nails combat, along with the absurdity that goes along with any endeavor managed by the Pentagon.

Visit

Walk the lines of tombstones at Arlington, become embraced by the walls of the Vietnam Memorial, and be one of the few people to visit the District of Columbia War Memorial, the closest thing in the Capital City to a World War One Memorial, in West Potomac Park, just off Independence Ave.

Wear

A flower poppy sold by VFW members to commemorate the poppies that Canadian poet John McRae used to evoke the fallen in his World War I poem, "In Flanders Fields":

In Flanders Fields the poppies blow,
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky,
The larks, still bravely singing, fly,
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the dead.
Short days ago,
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved and now we lie,
In Flanders Fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you, from failing hands, we throw,
The torch, be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us, who die,
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

Honor

Compose your own honor roll and send it here for posting.

Here's mine:

• My comrades from 2nd Battalion, 9th Marines and 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marines, Vietnam, 1965/1966 including Herbierto Gonzalez, Mike Metzger, Bill Schwartz, J.T. King, Larry Leal, Tom Wilmot and Mile Gullingsruud.
• Abigail Friedman: I have known and loved Abigail, a State Department Foreign Service officer who finished an Afghanistan tour this June working with provincial reconstruction teams, and her husband Eric Passaglia, for more than two decades and salute them both for their service. Abigail now serves as director for Afghanistan at the National Security Council.
• Lewis B. Puller Jr., friend and fellow Marine who touched me with his grace.
• Marine Maj. Cornelius Ram, the best company commander any Marine could ever have.
• Leon Daniel, Marine Korean War veteran and UPI bureau chief in Saigon on the last day of the Vietnam War. A friend, mentor and source of inspiration.