As we approach the observance of Memorial Day this year, a certain silence and indifference falls upon our campus. Perhaps this is predictable in the news media, fallen veterans are often regarded as little more than a statistic. And since the Vietnam War, our nation's civilian population has grown emotionally distant from their military counterparts. Although I have no intention of forcing an appreciation for America's honored dead upon our student body, perhaps a retrospective of how their sacrifices continue to affect us today can help us appreciate the upcoming holiday.
Memorial Day was initially enacted to remember the troops who had fallen during the Civil War. Too often do we solely credit Abraham Lincoln with the abolishment of slavery, and ignore the role of the countless Union troops who gave their lives for liberty. The lessons of their sacrifice still hold true today. When faced with racial discrimination, African-American regiments would sometimes refuse any pay at all if they would not receive equal wages yet still, unpaid, many would go on to pay the ultimate price to rid our nation of the abhorrent practice of slavery and die to defend the words stated in the Declaration of Independence, "that all men are created equal."
Many forget how our government suspended the Constitution during World War II, rationalizing its act of race-based imprisonment through fear mongering. Even less well known is the story of the most highly decorated regiment in the history of the United States Army, the 442nd infantry, composed of many detained internees. Countless members of the 442nd sacrificed their lives to protect their fellow Americans and help our nation live up to its promises, and the unit suffered a casualty rate of 314 percent, a figure including members wounded one or more times as well as killed. At the end of the war, detainees of internment camps were released, and the United States military was finally desegregated.
Dartmouth is no exception in its contributions to our nation's defense. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, many students would put their education on hold to serve in the armed forces. Many of them would never return. We are reminded of their sacrifice with a memorial plaque in the Zahn Courtyard dedicated to our alumni who died honorably in service of our nation during World War II and the Korean conflict. Dartmouth students would continue to make the sacrifice through the Vietnam War, in which 15 alumni died bravely in action.
But our nation's fallen veterans are more than just a number or a name on a plaque. "Casualties of war cry out to be known as persons, not as abstractions called casualties, not simply as numbers entered into the books, and not only as names chiseled into marble or granite," former College President James Wright said at the Vietnam Veterans' Memorial in Washington, D.C., last Veterans' Day ("Wright speaks to vets. at Vietnam Memorial," Nov. 12).
We continue to lose some of our nation's troops in conflicts abroad today. They were your high school classmates, your fraternity brothers, and perhaps even a member of your family. They came from working-class backgrounds, they came from wealthy backgrounds and sometimes they came from other countries with little more than hopes and dreams. More than likely, they were not so different from you, other than their eventual decision to swear an oath to defend this nation. They understood that there were certain things in this world for which they were willing to die.
Honoring our nation's fallen this Memorial Day doesn't require a Toby Keith concert and fireworks. On your way to Hinman Mail Center this weekend, you might stop to recognize the alumni who lost their lives in past wars. Or perhaps you might take the time to find out more about a distant relative who was killed in action before you were born, but you had never bothered to learn much about. They may not have served their country for the recognition or the honor, but for everything they have given for us, they certainly deserve as much.
Julian Sarkar '13 is a staff columnist and is a former Marine.
