Memorial Day 2012 is almost upon us and with it comes the 3 day start of summer (or at least that’s how I think of it). I started planting my garden last weekend, I’ll march in a parade on Monday morning and hopefully I’ll catch the start of the Indy 500, the Coke 600, and if I’m lucky, the end of the Coke 600.  Not much different than many Memorial Day weekend’s.

Tonight I caught a program on PBS about Pearl Harbor, specifically the hunt for 5 mysterious Japanese subs the may or may not have infiltrated the harbor and fired on our ships. There were lots of photos and some interviews with survivors and I found it all very captivating. 

My generation is used to strategic drone strikes and laser guided bombs. The brutality  and chaos of Pearl Harbor is almost unimaginable, much like WWII as a whole. It’s crazy listening to stories of young teenage boys lying about their ages so they could join the military and fight for their country. 

It’s seems so cliche to talk about the debt we owe to veterans, living or dead and yet it’s so terribly true. Our victory in WWII was anything but certain, how different would life be for my generation if we had lost?

I’ve said thank you to veterans, I’ve donated money to veterans organizations and I’ve tried to say a prayer when they pray for our military, but it never seems enough compared to the extreme sacrifice made willingly by so many.