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Memorial Day


 
“And death shall have no dominion” is from the Welsh poet Dylan Thomas known topurveyors of English literature.  Toreaders of the New Testament of the Bible, the theme comes from St. Paul’sletter to the Romans.
 
Memorial Day is now oursecular commemoration of the truth that death, indeed, has no dominion.  It is not because Paul says so, or that hesays so in reference to Jesus.   Nor hardly has its authenticity dependent onits being in a religious scripture.  Itis true because that’s the way life is, regardless on what tradition one standson.  
 
Memorial Day observedon the last Monday of May was formerly Decoration Day commemorating all men andwomen who died in military service for the United States.  It started with the recognition of Unionsoldiers who lost their lives during the American Civil War inspired by the waythe Southern states honored their dead. It was extended to WWI uniformed casualties, and later, on anyone whodied in any military action, war or no war.
 
Memorial Day comes atthe end of spring and the onset of summer in the northern hemisphere.  It is a good day to visit cemeteries, toprepare for incoming ice days, and gather the family if we could.  In fact, the last half of May tends to be memorialdays in the United States, at least, in my calendar, starting with the PeaceOfficers’ Day in the middle of the month and extending through D-Day in Juneand patriotic Fourth of July.  So, ratherthan a day to close-out autumn and prepare to hibernate in winter, I considerour choice of May more than just a memorial to military deaths as it is a celebrationof the gift of life in its fullness.
 
China just completed itshosting of CICA (Conference on Interaction and Confidence BuildingMeasures in Asia) in Shanghai, trying to move the sense of “security” out ofthe military mindset into the concern of citizens, particularly the internalcapacities to stem separatism and extremism. 
 
Born and bred in the Philippinesbefore taking US citizenship, and a part time resident of Saipan and Honolulu, Iam quite familiar with the intent of SEATO that was our NATO in Southeast Asia,and now, the ASEAN, which is our EU.  Europeand Asia are not the same, nor are their organized efforts similar but they areboth initiated and stoked by the military, political and economic interests ofthe United States.  Among cynical colleaguesin Asia, ASEAN is a coffee break tête-à-tête at a UScoffee shop!
 
One of the provisions of the jointdeclaration that came out of Shanghai (attended by 46 countries with the US asan observer) was the sense that a military alliance between an Asian countrywith a third party should not be at the expense of heightened insecurity of theAsian country’s neighbor.  Historically,this can only be in reference to US continued military meddling in the Koreasand the maritime disputes in the South China Sea, and the sale of Black Hawk“death from above” technologies to Brunei and Taiwan.
 
When China articulated its needfor a National Security Commission early this month in light of the actions of rebelsin an earlier attack at Tiananman Square in Beijing, the machete/bolo attacksin Yunnan and elsewhere, the Uyghur attacks in Xinjiang while China’s PresidentXi Jinping was on a visit, our US State Department had the temerity to ask thatChina prove allegations that they were under internal attack.
 
This week, two bombs on two fancy SUV’swere driven through a busy public market in Urmuqi, Xinjiang (Uyghur country) asthe CICA meeting in Shanghai was being held. There are in China internal security issues beyond the machete/bolocrowd that western media continually portrays. 
 
Let us ignore government policiesfor a moment.  As a teacher in thewestern tradition for the last 40 years, I am only aware of the type ofthinking we imbue on our students when we ask them to “compare and contrast”things, and in our revered methodology of having participants identify the“underlying contradiction” in strategic planning.  Nothing methodological wrong with both, savethe compare-and-contrast method often leads to the one-up-man-ship hierarchicalstructure of society where one is decreed to be better than another.  Though identifying concrete contradictionshelp planning to rise from mere wishful thinking that deteriorates into theeternal Zoroastrian battle of good-and-evil, we are increasingly getting clearthat only in dealing with concrete “rocks-in-the-middle-of-the-road” realitiescan planning actually move forward.
 
Memorial Day is not when we drawthe line to leave some people out as it is to broaden a circle so that we canget everyone in.  In the movie The Last Samurai, the Tom Cruise characterwas asked by the Emperor of the warrior who died with his sword swingingagainst the volleys of lead:  “Tell me how hedied.”  Tom Cruise replied: “I'll tellyou how he lived.”
 
A colleague in Saipan is fond of saying, “it is notwhat I am willing to die for that is at issue; what I aim to live for,” is.  Enjoy your lagoonBBQ!


j'aime la vie
pinoypanda2031 at aol.com

yesterday, appreciate; tomorrow, anticipate; today. participate. In all, celebrate!

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