I begin my day by first reading the front-page news in the Monitor and then turning to the obituary page. Losing local friends reminds us of how fragile life can be.
Sadly, I have recently been attending too many funerals and burials of friends and family. Some of those burials were at the New Hampshire State Veterans Cemetery in Boscawen.
People complain that government wastes too much money. That may be true in some instances, but not in all cases. One exception is our veterans cemetery.
It is an example of a successful federal and state legislative partnership that benefits many families in New Hampshire. The staff at that cemetery are dedicated public servants who do a terrific job maintaining, organizing and preserving this memorial to the men and women who served our nation.
We owe them kudos for a job well done.
I recently attended a burial service of a friend at that cemetery. I arrived early and waited for the funeral cortege to arrive.
As I sat in my car on that cool spring day, listening to the wind whistle through the tall sentinel pine trees, my thoughts went back in time to a visit I made at another veterans cemetery, Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va.
A visit to Arlington National will not be soon forgotten. It is the final resting place for more than 350,000 military veterans and their family members.
It was founded over bitterness and necessity. Northern Virginia was the site of several bloody battles at the beginning of our Civil War. As casualties mounted, the Union Army needed more land for burials. The Arlington House property was confiscated to become a Union cemetery.
That home belonged to the Lee family. The same Lee family that produced Robert E. Lee, a Confederate general.
Among those buried at Arlington are more than 400 Medal of Honor recipients and two U.S. presidents, and there is one special grave: the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
That tomb is a solemn memorial. It has a powerful and resolute inscription on it. “Here rests in honored glory an American soldier known but to God.”
The Army guards of honor from the elite 3rd Infantry Regiment (The Old Guard) patrol the tomb every day of the year, night and day, rain or shine. Visitors are welcome. You must remain silent and respectful.
America is seriously politically divided. The daily news paints a picture of division, rancor and partisan bitterness.
It is comforting to know that there are some government functions that still unite us. Memorial Day is one of those functions.
The first national Memorial Day was held on May 30, 1868. It became an annual day of mourning intended to honor those who died while on active duty in our armed forces.
It should not be conflated with Veterans Day, which honors all veterans who served in our military.
Memorial Day reminds us that the freedoms we enjoy were not free. They came at a cost. Much of that cost was borne by those who took the military oath of enlistment to protect and defend our Constitution from its enemies, both foreign and domestic. Many lost their lives in the process of honoring that oath.
The veterans cemetery in Boscawen celebrates the promise made to all of those who served. You shall not be forgotten.
(Jim Baer lives in Concord.)