A Day to Remember
A volunteer's perspective on the meaningful, interpersonal
impacts nonprofits can have
Detroit, Mi- “What are you doing for Memorial Day?” “Are you doing anything special for the holiday weekend?” “Enjoy your Memorial Day!”
I heard these conversations all weekend, and it was to be expected, we’ve all had them -- we’ve all taken those few seconds and made a day set aside to remember the men and women who never made it home and made it about us. I know I have. It’s easy to get excited about a day off, about another day to sleep-in, or spend time with family and friends, and that’s okay, but this Memorial Day showed me just how important it is to stop, and think, and thank the men and women who gave their lives overseas, and never got that extra day for errands, for work around the house, for time with their families.
Boot on the Ground, and I as their volunteer, had the humbling pleasure of sharing our time alongside Veterans for Peace this past Memorial Day (2016). While I am always excited to experience new things with B.O.G., if I’m being honest, getting up early was the last thing I wanted to do after working all weekend. Backing out, however, was not an option because I said i’d be there, so I adopted a semi-positive attitude and arrived in downtown Detroit at 9am hoping there was coffee. There was, and what I didn’t expect was how meaningful this experience would become to me.
Picking up one of countless crosses made Memorial Day the most tangible it has ever been for me. I’ve participated in memorials, marched in parades, gone to commemorative monuments, but this was different. Each cross represented a lost Michigan soldier and hosted a small photo and biography of theirs. Seeing a young man my age, holding his cross in my hand, knowing he never got the chance to consider barbecuing for Memorial Day, was indescribably humbling, and unfathomably sobering. What struck me the most, however, came from looking around me. I realized that I held but one biography of one soldier, and surrounding me were hundreds more. Hundreds of lives. In that moment, the power of the word, “sobering” fell terribly short. These were among men and women; Dads, fathers, sons, mothers, daughters, best friends, boyfriends, sisters, brothers. Gone.
We anchored each cross in the ground, Jarret made sure we read and took a moment for every one, and together we created the memorial you can see above (and below). Once finished, I took a step back and tried to understand the magnitude of these losses. When I decided to volunteer for Boots on the Ground, I did not expect an experience to be so eye-opening, so transformative. Losing one person in my life would be detrimental to me, I can’t imagine the pain the families of brave men and women are in. They, these veterans and their families, deserved to be honored. I hoped everyone who saw the Memorial felt the same.
Following the Veterans for Peace’s unnecessary thanks, and some silent prayers, we went on our way. As we walked along the front of the memorial, I couldn’t think, I could only stand in silent awe and gratitude to people who would never again hear the words “thank you”. Jarret best described the weight of my feelings after he took a moment at every cross on display and said,
“On this Memorial Day in Detroit in 2016 we bear witness and overstand the context of service and sacrifice while reading the name of every Michigan soldier lost overseas in Iraq and Afghanistan, seeing their picture, the town and homes these smiles are missed in, and feeling the presence of the veterans that came from all across Michigan to set up this vigil.”
This is what Memorial Day was meant to be. Of course, time with family is important, but we need more than weekend parades, and Facebook posts to commemorate our soldiers ultimate sacrifice. We need more memorials like Veterans for Peace’s, small as they may be. Memorials that are personal, understandable, impactful and memorable; Memorials that truly honor and demonstrate the bravery of the lives we’ve lost.
