americana: memorial day: remembering those who died for our freedom

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Americana: Memorial Day: Remembering

Those Who Died for Our Freedom

By Bill FitzpatrickMay 2012

The author's father, William Fitzpatrick, Sr. (center),

while stationed in Italy. These World War II men

have been described by journalist Tom Brokaw as

The Greatest Generation.

In the spring of 1972, I walked across the University

of South Carolina campus, pushed a quarter into a

machine, and pulled out a copy of the Statenewspaper. I scanned the paper, looking for my

birthday and associated draft number. I was lucky.

The draft number associated with my birthday was a

high one, meaning that I would not serve in what isnow remembered as the first American

quagmirethe Vietnam War.

I wish I could write I would have fought like a Rajput in Vietnam, but in truth, I am not so

suremainly because the war was so unpopular and because many of us failed to understand

what we would be sacrificing ourselves for. Some of my generation fled to Canada to avoid the

draft, others participated in the many anti-war protest movements that were popular on collegecampuses. The great American boxer, Muhammad Ali, refused to fight in the war, and lost

nearly four years of his sporting career arguing his case in our judicial system.

Our parents generation didnt understand our disinterest in fighting this war. To them it wasclear: As a citizen you have an obligation to serve your country when called, just like they did in

World War II. To many of us though it was equally clear: The Vietnam War was a mindless

mess with no clear purpose. So we Baby Boomers clogged city streets and protested it by

chanting the now iconic words, Hell no, we wont go, hell no, we wont go! or held signs that

said, Make Love, Not War.Even as controversial as the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars have been, they are no match for the

divisiveness caused by the Vietnam War. My friends who did serve in Vietnam made it a point tonot wear their uniforms while in this county, so unpopular was the war.

Though we like to fancy ourselves a peace-loving people, this nation has been at one way oranother for nearly 100 consecutive yearsincluding the decades long Cold War with the

Soviets. No matter our individual positions on wars, even as ugly as the Vietnam, it is pleasing to

see that as a country we recognize and appreciate our military men and womens strength andcourage. On May 28th, Memorial Day, we will honor the men and women who have fought in


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our wars. With this approaching holiday, its a good time to review a couple of other wars that

have had a lasting impact on American culture and psyche.

The Revolutionary War: The birth of We the people

Any country worth its salt has had to deal with those pesky British, and so it was with ourfledgling country during the Revolutionary War, fought from 1775-1783.

Sure, there were many factors leading to the first shots of the war being fired at Concord,

Massachusetts, but contemporary America remembers the iconic Boston Tea Party. The

British, eager for new revenues, placed taxes on certain goods, including tea. Fed up with the

notion of taxation without representation, a group of Patriots snuck onto the British ships andflung the tea into the waters.

In another noteworthy incident Paul Revere, upon learning the British army was poised to attack,

jumped on his horse and rode through the night in order to warn our local militias. One of the

most famous American poets, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, tells of this great journey in PaulReveres Ride, a poem that was required reading in school, at least in the lower 48 states.The most epic figure of the Revolutionary War was our eventual first president, General George

Washington. When all appeared lost, he personally led Patriot troops across the frigid waters of

the Delaware River to attack and defeat unsuspecting British troops. His heroics and leadership

were to our cause as Gandhis were to India.

Great men like Washington and intriguing narratives like the Boston Tea Party dominateRevolutionary War history, but the birth of our country also belongs to otherwise ordinary

people, many of whom lived in the Carolinas and Georgia. Few Americans know that more

Revolutionary War battles were fought in South Carolina than any of the other original thirteen

colonies.

Recently, I visited one of these otherwise forgotten places. After traveling five miles down asingle lane dirt road, I found a long-abandoned church and overgrown cemetery. Also on the

property was an historical marker, informing me that the Britishers were defeated in the nearby

Battle of Hull. The grounds were rich, the moment special. Such places are the birthplace of ourAmerican heritage, a heritage of self determination, optimism, a can-do attitude, and the

incredible promise of founding documents that begin, not with We the government, or Asyour king but We the people

The Civil War: The Recent Unpleasantness!

The staggering promise of a land With liberty and justice for all was nearly lost in the CivilWar, fought from 1861-1865.

The issue, according to Abraham Lincoln and the Northern states, was slavery. The

president wanted to abolish it, the Southern states, citing states rights, didnt. The South

seceded from the Union, appointed Jefferson Davis as president and established Richmond astheir capital. In the interest of brevity I have simplifiedsome in the North owned slaves, the


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Western states were divided, and some in the South were against slavery. When the Confederate

army finally surrendered, around 700,000 men had been killed, a number that exceeds by asmuch as 200,000 the combined losses in the Revolutionary War, World War I and World War II.

As a Northern school kid, when the topic of the Civil War was taught, like the rest of our class, I

was happy to learn that our side, the North, won the war. I gave no more thought to the losingside until my family moved to the South. Ahem, even in progressive Raleigh, damn often

precedes Yankee! But it wasnt until the mid-1980s, when I met Neil Trask, or Gran, to his

family, that I felt the bitter emotions of the past. I was dating Grans granddaughter at the time.Are you related to the Kennedys? he asked me after I introduced myself, referring to the one-

time President John Kennedy, and his brothers, Bobby and Ted.

Huh? No! I replied, wondering why he would ever arrive at that strange conclusion.

Thats good. I thought with an Irish-American name like Fitzpatrick, and the fact youre from

the North, that you might be related to the damn Kennedys.

Gran then shared his memories.

When I was a young boy, my Grandfather would tell me about the awful things the North did tothe South. Told me how that no-good Union General Sherman burned most of our cities. Told

me how we fought hard, but the North had more money and better weapons. Told me that when

the family heard Union soldiers were on their way, he helped bury our silver in the ground so we

could retrieve it after the war.

I listened, astonished at the intensity of Grans feelings.

The resentments in the South still linger. Today, some in the South wont even call it the Civil

War, preferring instead the War Between the States, or The War of Northern Aggression,

orand this sounds so polite I feel like slipping into a rocking chair and sipping on a mintjulepThe Recent Unpleasantness.

On a happier note, we will honor our World War II veterans on Memorial Day. These aging men,

called The Greatest Generation by the esteemed journalist, Tom Brokaw, lived through the

Great Depression of the 1930s and volunteered to fight in World War II during the 1940s. They

served well, the enemies were defeated and national pride hit its zenith. The Memorial Day

parades will be fun, the stories from the past bittersweet. The long weekend is also a fine time tovisit one of the many memorials or battleground sites. But all of us native born citizens who

didnt necessarily fight in the wars have our stories, too, so ask us to share our views and

experiences. The stories will be rich and they will be different, and all are part of our Americanheritage.

Published byKhabar Magazine,Featuressection May 2012 issue.
http://www.khabar.com/http://www.khabar.com/http://www.khabar.com/http://www.khabar.com/magazine/features/http://www.khabar.com/magazine/features/http://www.khabar.com/magazine/features/http://www.khabar.com/magazine/features/http://www.khabar.com/

americana: memorial day: remembering those who died for our freedom

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