Memorial

 

So, today, we celebrate Memorial Day, a Day to honor our men and women who have died in the service of protecting our Nation. Being a bit older than most of you, I still remember that Day as Decoration Day, its original name because it was a Day when people would honor our War dead by decorating their graves with flowers.

The origins of that Day are greatly mixed with America’s Race arguments. One of the earliest celebrations involved freed Black men and women honoring the War dead who had been responsible for freeing them.  The Nation moved from that more limited memorial to one that honors all of our War dead, those men and women who died serving the Nation, especially in our many times of War.  And think of that. Just since I have been alive, we have experienced World War II, Korea, Vietnam, and those seemingly never-ending Middle East conflicts, even if they are not properly called Wars.

Apparently, Humans of all kinds prefer resolving their conflicts by shooting at the “Other Side”.  And again, apparently, that has transferred in America into a Love of Guns and just shooting people generally, even if we don’t know those people.

Our World today seems to sit on the edge of a precipice, as we sit pointing guns and hating people generally.  So many people, so little time.  At one point, in my now long life, I still remember living on the edge of oblivion. America and the Soviet Union, both armed with nuclear weapons pointed at the other, were practically drooling at the prospect of letting loose those thousands of Death missiles. The world’s problem, and our problem more specifically, was that, should we loosen those weapons and send them on their way, the Russians would do the same, and then we would all disappear into a nuclear emptiness, where no humans continued to exist.  I was working at Lockheed at the time. The Lockheed Missiles and Space Company was hard at work, as was I, on designing and building the Polaris, submarine-launched ballistic missile. It was a fearsome thing. Each submarine could hold 16 missiles, each of which could deliver, in turn, three independently targetable nuclear delivery vehicles.  The missiles could be fired while the submarine was submerged.

But it was a while in development. In 1957, when the Russians launched SPUTNIK successfully, we were still in the early development stages of designing and building Polaris.  And our anxiety leaped up after the Soviets were successful. Now, to be fair, SPUTNIK was a satellite, not an ICBM. But it made very clear that Soviet technology had suddenly leaped ahead of ours.  And I still remember in that dark, cold period, beginning to feel actually threatened. Our President, Dwight Eisenhower, told the American people that we had entered a new era. The level of threat I perceived was sufficiently real that I experienced serious fears.  But our work went on, even if not without glitches.  Among the glitches, were our experiences blowing up our missile over Cape Canaveral. We nicknamed our Polaris developmental missile as “The Snake Killer”, because of its unfortunate habit of blowing up soon after launch, thereby spewing flaming solid propellant all over the Cape’s grassy launch area, thereby killing all snakes and other mammals in that area.

And so, we went on developing our horror machines, while the Soviets were doing the same.  And that “Cold War” continued with Hate spewing at each of the contestants, mainly America and Russia.

Eventually, of course, both of us acquired the technical capability of totally destroying the other side.  And each crisis seemed to generate its own anxiety level. I vividly remember that nasty Cuban Missile Crisis.

From a reference text:

October 16-28 marks the anniversary of the Cuban Missile Crisis, an anxious period during the Cold War in which the two superpowers—The United States and the Soviet Union—stood on the brink of a nuclear war. Just 17 years after the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, a stark warning of the devastating consequences of launching a nuclear warhead, fear of nuclear conflict was at America’s doorstep. Over the course of 13 days, the world avoided nuclear catastrophe through shrewd diplomacy and sheer luck.

October 16, 1962: US National Security Adviser McGeorge Bundy briefed President John F. Kennedy on evidence that the Soviets were constructing nuclear missile sites in Cuba, just 90 miles from US territory. Earlier that year, Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev had reached a secret agreement with Cuban leader Fidel Castro after the island experienced a failed US attempt to overthrow his government.

President Kennedy met with a group of trusted advisers to discuss options. This group would meet daily during the crisis and later be named the Executive Committee of the National Security Council, or ExComm.  Two main options emerged: destroying the Soviet missile sites with air strikes, or establishing a naval blockade to cut off Soviet shipments of additional materials to Cuba.

October 20, 1962: Following days of meetings, including one with Soviet Foreign Minister Andrey Gromyko, Kennedy decided on a naval blockade.

October 22, 1962: Kennedy addressed the American public, revealing the news of Soviet moves in Cuba and announcing the US establishment of naval quarantine until the Soviets dismantled the missile sites. He also sent a letter to Khruschev, warning him of deliberately plunging the world into war, which it is crystal clear no country could win and which could only result in catastrophic consequences to the whole world, including the aggressor.

October 23, 1962: US ships moved into place around Cuba. Soviet freighters bringing supplies to the island moved into the area, but ultimately altered course, or stopped in their place.

October 25, 1962: Soviet freighters turned back toward Europe, but a commercial oil tanker—The Bucharest-- continued towards Cuba. The US allowed the Bucharest to pass through the blockade, without search, after the Navy was satisfied it was carrying petroleum.

October 26, 1962: As work on the missile sites continued, Castro requested Khrushchev to launch a nuclear first strike against the US. This never happened. Instead, then Soviet leader sent a letter to President Kennedy suggesting a way to resolve the conflict: the Soviets would remove the missiles in exchange for a US pledge not to invade Cuba.

Kennedy’s brother, Attorney General Robert Kennedy, played a crucial role in diplomatic efforts, meeting with Russian Ambassador Anatoly Dobrynin who likened the Soviet buildup in Cuba to the US nuclear missiles stationed in Turkey. AG Kennedy informed Dobrynin that the United States was ready to discuss the issue as part of a potential agreement to end the crisis.

And talk about nervous mind-blowing. Yes, we were all biting our nails, because this one could be “The One”.  Happily, everyone backed off. Perhaps visions of Hiroshima danced in their heads, as they did mine.  I don’t know if I have ever been that frightened. But we all kept on truck’n, designing and building our Polaris.

And now we fast forward to our present 2023. What we have now is a new way to reconsider WAR. Only now, we are simply and collectively trying to think of new ways to live our lives as we move towards the next Presidential election.  And on one side we have the Democratic party trying to figure out how best to support our President, Joe Biden. On the other side, we have a new Republican Party—“new” because republicans broadly have killed of that party of Eisenhower. I personally am no longer sure what this newly incarnated political party wants, aside from, obviously, political power. They wish to be in charge, apparently so they can cut taxes of their wealthy supporters, reduce all benefits to middle and lower class citizens (including, apparently, Social Security) and take action against Women, people of color, the LGBTQ folks, and any and all migrants here or wishing to be here. They most now remind me of those folks in 1936 Germany, working with and supporting Adolph Hitler.

Seemingly each day brings us some new form of anti-democracy movement by the current pseudo-Republicans. And their continued siege against America makes me want to throw up, and returns me to those nervous days of the 1960s. America may not survive this constant barrage of fascist attacks from our right wing. They may succeed in doing what the Soviet Sputnik crowd could not. Indeed, I find myself thinking seriously about where I might be considering migrating, were I much younger. New Zealand anyone?

But I am old now. In under two years, I shall be 90, and married for 70 years. Those are good things I know, to be celebrated. But simultaneously, our Nation seems to be fracturing into a new form of Civil War.

But in the meantime, happily we still continue to find some way to honor our War dead. So, YES, Decoration Day continues and we should all find some way to honor those men and women who died trying to help our Nation survive the threats from within and Without.

So, Thank you Veterans, Men and Women alike. You, at least continue to make our Nation proud.  Again, THANK YOU.