Caissons go rolling along

This HBO documentary made tears keep rolling down my cheeks this beautiful Memorial Day.

Enough to remember

Is it enough to remember those who have given their lives in service?  Is that enough?

How many new war dead before Memorial Day 2012 do we need to accomplish our geopolitical goals?  Do we have enough to remember?

The completion of a decade at war is coming in September or in March, depending how you date the beginning. Is memory enough, or should someone in power be bringing peace?

Andrew Bacevich asks...

Still the cost of war

Click image for full Garry Trudeau cartoon.

Not in it for the sex

Click image for full Clay Bennett/Chattanooga Times Free Press cartoon.

Resting now from struggle

Far be it from me to speak ill of the war dead on their day of special remembrance or any other day, but it is still right for us to recall that what they did was not to act as superheroes but rather, as ordinary people, to rouse themselves to give something extraordinary. To my mind, that makes them all the more honorable.

Click image for attribution under CCA ShareAlike 1.0.

Memory

What they died for is, of course, not the easy stuff of picnics, flag pins, and yellow ribbons. They died for their buddies and for their tribe of which we are members, but they also died for the ideals of self-government that makes this country more than a tribe.

Click image for full Mark Streeter/Savannah Morning News cartoon.