If you walk out of the Hop via the exit near the mailboxes, you will see a plaque embedded in the Hanover Inn on your left. On it are inscribed the names of Dartmouth graduates that were killed in the Second World War and in Korea. The list is long.
I am sure that most of you either never noticed the recently-installed plaque, or if you did you passed right by it without thinking about it for more than a moment.
But think about it: every name on that wall walked through the spot you are now sitting on, went to the same College you are now in and, at an age only a very little older than yours, was struck dead; their Dartmouth diplomas did nothing for them in their moments of need. See that guy in the plaid shirt across from you with that frat hat on? It might as well have been him.
Today is Memorial Day, and yet we have classes and it is business as usual as far as Dartmouth is concerned. There are no classes on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, which is a perfectly legitimate holiday, but it only leads me to ask why the College does not recognize a holiday that is considerably older and is also celebrated on the same day in France and Britain.
I am not going to make a stink about how we should have the day off, because such would be pointless, and more importantly, most of my classes have been canceled anyway. However, I am going to make a personal request, no matter how corny it may seem. I ask all of you that for a few moments today to celebrate Memorial Day yourselves.
This does not mean that you should have a parade and a barbecue in your backyard; especially not a barbecue. For, this is more than the unofficial start of summer: it is a time to reflect and a time to express sorrow.
You see, Memorial Day is not about celebration, and regardless of what you feel about America's wars, the day is not about politics -- it is about empathizing and perhaps giving thanks. First and foremost, it is a holiday about young men.
Since this country was formed over two centuries ago, over one million men have gone into battle for various causes and not returned alive, leaving parents to grieve; when a soldier dies in battle, parents lose a son and gain a neatly-folded American Flag. Such a trade is grossly unfair, but it is one that our nation has deemed necessary so many times, and it is one that men our age have been willing to make for as long as they have been asked to do so.
What can we do? Temporarily, we can suspend our judgment. Was The Gulf War just? Was Vietnam just? On Memorial Day, who cares? That is not the issue. Young men like -- like myself -- are full of passion and idealism, and willing to face death for what they believe in, or just in performance of their duty, whether they understand what they are getting into or not.
The purpose of the day is to recognize that these men died doing what they thought needed to be done, and for that we must give them respect. But we must also recall that young men should never have to die in the first place, and for that we should feel sorrow. Finally, if we ever forget the tragedy of so many thousands of men running to their death in the midst of battle, then we will be so much closer to sending people our age off to their deaths again, and for that we must remember.
We never grew up in the midst of war. However, our last war is not that far behind us, and the next one is always around the corner. Most of us are lucky enough to not need to do military time, but some of us chose to, and throughout the rest of the nation, men without any hopes of college fill the ranks of our fighting forces. Some of them will not be alive in a few years from now. We cannot let these sacrifices go unrecognized, and we need to affirm to those on the edge of battle that if they meet death it will not go misunderstood and unappreciated.
Today, go to your classes and your frats; there is nothing wrong with that. However, if you have a spare moment, pass the plaque by the Hop, or the one by the West exit of the reserve corridor. Stop for a second and look at the names.
These are the sons of Dartmouth we have been taught to sing about in our Alma Mater. They are dead now, yet so many of their classmates are not. Without questioning politics or the futility of war, realize that they have faced battle, and been unlucky enough to fall in its midst, and thank them for facing death for their beliefs.
Realize that you will probably never have to make a similar sacrifice, but promise to yourself that you will remember these names, so that when you are in a position to mold the course of nations in one way or another, more men will not fall unnecessarily.
