This from 'The Morning' from the New York Times. Not only should we take time to remember and give thanks for those who sacrificed their lives for the rest of us, we should also give thanks for ALL who have served and are serving to defend our democratic Republic. Telling a serviceperson 'Thank you for your service' is not enough. Our veterans should not have to depend on charities for the help and support they need after serving in the US Military. We should all be e mailing our representatives and senators several times a year telling them before our government allocates money for space missions to the Moon and Mars, before they cut billions from the taxes of American billionaires and multi-millionaires, before they boost the profit margins of the military-industrial complex by paying without question the over budget charges on weapons and ammunition contracts they need to fully budget for the programs and services our veterans honorably discharged after 20 years of service or honorably discharged after serving in combat need. They should not have to depend on any veteran's charity for medical home care, housing, transportation and food. That and remembering to vote is how we can best thank and show our appreciation to the US Military and our veterans.
It’s Memorial Day. The United States and Iran appear to be close to a deal to end the war.
I’m going to start, though, with a poem written by Paul Laurence Dunbar and published in 1896. It’s about the Civil War, but the words elegize all those who gave their lives in service to the United States. It opens in the aftermath of war, then casts back to record its bloody, immeasurable cost. The peace that follows brings flowers of “glory eternal,” and Dunbar pays tribute to those who died for freedom, “with the flag flashing high in the sun.”
 | By Sam Sifton |
26 May 2026
‘Ode for Memorial Day’
Done are the toils and the wearisome marches,
Done is the summons of bugle and drum.
Softly and sweetly the sky overarches,
Shelt’ring a land where Rebellion is dumb.
Dark were the days of the country’s derangement,
Sad were the hours when the conflict was on,
But through the gloom of fraternal estrangement
God sent his light, and we welcome the dawn.
O’er the expanse of our mighty dominions,
Sweeping away to the uttermost parts,
Peace, the wide-flying, on untiring pinions,
Bringeth her message of joy to our hearts.
Ah, but this joy which our minds cannot measure,
What did it cost for our fathers to gain!
Bought at the price of the heart’s dearest treasure,
Born out of travail and sorrow and pain;
Born in the battle where fleet Death was flying,
Slaying with sabre-stroke bloody and fell;
Born where the heroes and martyrs were dying,
Torn by the fury of bullet and shell.
Ah, but the day is past; silent the rattle,
And the confusion that followed the fight.
Peace to the heroes who died in the battle,
Martyrs to truth and the crowning of Right!
Out of the blood of a conflict fraternal,
Out of the dust and dimness of death,
Burst into blossoms of glory eternal
Flowers that sweeten the world with the breath.
Flowers of charity, peace, and devotion
Bloom in the hearts that are empty of strife;
Love that is boundless and broad as the ocean
Leaps into beauty and fullness of life.
So, with the singing of paeans and chorals,
And with the flag flashing high in the sun,
Place on the graves of our heroes the laurels
Which their unfaltering valor has won!
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