Memorial Day

On this Memorial Day, I've been thinking about the people who are generally ignored on this holiday: men and some women who died from accidents or disease while serving our nation. Their deaths--and there have been thousands and thousands of them in our history--were just as tragic as the passing of anyone killed in action at Saratoga, Belleau Wood, Guadalcanal, St. Lo or Hue. On some level, their deaths may be more tragic, because they did not die as heroes--except, perhaps, to those who loved them. Yet they served their nation every bit as well as those who stood against the British regulars at Bunker Hill or died at the seawall on Utah Beach. Let's include them when we celebrate our veterans.