MARY C. CURTIS
Memorial Day weekend starts with all the wrong questions.
How much will it cost to fill up the tank for that family getaway?
How tough will it be to crowd into the Hollywood holiday blockbuster?
Will it be steak, chicken or both on the barbecue grill?
Then maybe we get around to what this weekend truly honors: the spirit of the brave men and women who died in the nation's service.
Now there are even more reasons to think about the troops.
Congress this week approved legislation that funds the president's request for almost $100 billion for the war in Iraq. In May, the death toll for U.S. military in Iraq is nearly 90. That brings the total number of U.S. personnel killed in Iraq since March 2003 to more than 3,400.
Thousands of U.S. and Iraqi troops continue to search for two U.S. soldiers missing since a May 12 ambush. The body of a third missing soldier was found and identified.
"In Tribute" reminders in the newspaper and on television reveal the individual humanity of every loss.
The very closeness that makes the sacrifices in Iraq so real and raw can make them more difficult to confront, even on a weekend set aside to remember.
Honoring past warriors is sometimes easier. Those wars are over; the history is written. Disagreements over who fought and why may not be settled, but they've settled down.
The Iraq war is the present, at the center of political debate and presidential politics. When and how it will end is unknown. Polls say the country is losing faith in the fight. But men and women continue to serve their country, sent over more than once.
One Huntersville family's son is returning to Iraq, to his unit. This is the Army reservist's third combat tour.
His father, who says, "I hope Memorial Day is not for him, period," believes there's "too much politics and not enough sense and reason" in the discussion of the war. He's an advocate of 18-year-olds spending two years in government service -- not necessarily in a combat role -- so all young people will know what it means to serve.
For some young people, service is aging soldiers lined up to parade and salute. But those World War II veterans were as young and anxious as those leaving for Iraq.
How can each person make this weekend special? Honoring troops -- past and present -- does not mean giving up the celebrations.
No need to stay glued to the television for a special on the pilots who served in the Pacific during World War II or for a documentary on three female soldiers injured in Iraq.
The war-movie marathons can wait for next year.
Don't cancel the pool parties or the trips to the beach.
Celebrations are a perfect time to be thankful if loved ones are not in danger, to be supportive if they are.
Taking a moment to realize that joy is paid for with sacrifice and to ask what every individual can contribute won't spoil the mood.
Memorial Day weekend may start with the wrong questions, but the right answer is pretty clear.
IN MY OPINION Mary C. Curtis
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Your tributes to fallen soldiers
MSNBC.com readers share memories of troops killed in Iraq, Afghanistan
This Memorial Day, MSNBC.com asked readers to share photos and memories of loved ones killed in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. These are their stories, unedited and unvarnished. To view a special photo gallery honoring these soldiers, click here.
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A Walk Down Memory Lane
NPR’s Vietnam: Radio First Termer
The Award Winning 1987 Radio Documentary Of Bill Lichtenstein
This has really been an amazing month for me. First, finding a complete version of the only existing Saigon, Vietnam Show that was recorded back in January 1971, then receiving from a fan a complete one hour NPR broadcasted documentary radio show that showcases historical audio archives of Hanoi Hanna, Adrian Cronauer, Dave Rabbit, just to name a few. It explores how radio was used by the enemy for propaganda, our own government in the “hearts and minds concept” and the eventual pirate radio era when the troops had enough of the bullshit and lies and wanted just a few simple truths. You are going to hear some audio that has not been heard for 20 years since the original broadcast back in 1987. For those of you that were there... it is a great trip full of memories. For those of you that weren’t, it will give you an insightful perspective to what Vietnam was really like and how the simple media of radio.... changed the war. They talk about me, Radio First Termer and some other of my brother pirate radio broadcasters during the second segment, about 48 minutes into the broadcast. By the way, Bill Lichtenstein so loved the name of my show, he named the documentary after it. Thanks Bill!
Bill Lichtenstein is a graduate of Brown University and the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism, Bill began his work in television at ABC and CBS Sports. He later worked at ABC News as an Emmy Award-winning producer of investigative reports for the ABC News magazine 20/20 and as a field producer for Nightline, World News Tonight, This Week with David Brinkley and other ABC News programs and specials.
Bill began his career at the age of 14 as a newscaster and disc jockey at WBCN-FM in Boston. His 1973 radio documentary What is News? won a National Public Radio "Youth Radio Award." Later he worked as Program Director at WBRU-FM in Providence and co-produced and co-wrote the 1987 Livingston Award winning NPR documentary Vietnam: Radio First Termer. {To listen to the broadcast scroll down and hit the Play Button.}
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STATESVILLE --Field of crosses
Row after row, more than 3,400 white crosses stand in a Statesville park this weekend, offering a silent salute to every American who has died in the Iraq war.
For Lipford, the memorial is a tribute to her son, who died three months after arriving in Iraq, as well as to other people's sons and daughters.
Gritty as her smoker's voice, Lipford doesn't give up easily. Salty and irreverent, she still wears the "Mother of a Soldier" dog tag her son gave her. Her voice cracks when she talks about him. Tears come with a stew of sorrow, frustration and anger.
A few weeks ago, Lipford heard a news bulletin announced from a TV in the next room. She ran in, stubbing her toe in the rush. But it wasn't what she thought. The bulletin: The latest on Anna Nicole Smith's baby."All these soldiers are dying every day, and there's no news flash," she says. "I never hear soldiers being talked about. People are so not touched by the war."
For those near enough come and visit and reflect:
A 1:30 p.m. ceremony today will officially open the memorial. It's in Mac Anderson Park, on Race Street just west of downtown Statesville, about 40 miles north of Charlotte. The display will stay through Monday. It is named for Arlington National Cemetery near Washington, where more than 300,000 people are buried.
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Than we should also think about the Corruption and especially the Present Day 'War Of Choice'! Just one review that should have taken place long before this 'War Of Choice' was well into 4plus years! Not only an audit but why do we have a Private Army of Well Paid Mercenaries.
N.C.-based Blackwater facing audit
MOYOCK --The special inspector general for reconstruction in Iraq plans to audit Blackwater USA, a private security contractor based in North Carolina.
Stuart Bowen, the congressionally appointed special inspector general, will begin the audit in the coming months, his office said. "The full scope of this audit has yet to be determined," Bowen's spokeswoman, Denise Burgess, said in an e-mail to The Virginian-Pilot of Norfolk, Va. "However, it will be a substantive audit."
Blackwater, based at a sprawling compound in the tiny town of Moyock, has won more than $700 million in federal contracts since 2004 to protect American diplomatic personnel in Iraq.
Anne Tyrrell, a Blackwater spokeswoman, said the company has not yet been contacted by Bowen's auditors. -- associated press
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