Memorial Day is stretching at our house. The morning of Memorial Day we went off to the local Memorial Day parade, which was an odd aggregation of JROTC, marching bands, local firms, and pre-schools. Lots and lots of pre-schools. I had no idea we had so many pre-schools in the area. Oh, and a handful of local politicians. We even had a fly-over to begin the parade: a C5 Galaxy and a couple of helicopters. There was a fellow in a Navy uniform in the back of one convertible. Someone said, “Hey, there’s a sailor!” and my four-year-old daughter started calling, “Hi, Sailor! Hi, Sailor!” My wife passed on a remark of her father’s: “Little boys play with soldiers and little girls play with dolls. When they grow, up, though….”

Then, that evening, we sat the kids down and put The Longest Day on the DVD player. We watched from the beginning of the movie to the first glider landings, and then had to stop. Tonight we continued from there through the assault on the beaches and “Der Fuhrer”‘s refusal to release the reserve panzers. Tomorrow we’ll wind it up.

We thought our boys should see what courage looks like, and why these men are worth remembering.