Wendy Weikel used to believe that Memorial Day was for the old veterans.
Now she sees it’s for the young.
Weikel visited the grave of her husband, Capt. Ian Weikel, at the Arlington Cemetery last week. The 31-year-old was killed on patrol when a roadside bomb exploded through his Humvee on April 18, 2006.
Wendy and Ian met as cadets at West Point. She also was a U.S. Army captain — until she gave birth to the couple’s son, Jonathan. On Thursday, she watched as their 21-month-old helped soldiers plant American flags at the white tombstones near his father’s grave.
“Reality hits you so young,” she said. “You used to see the old vets out there, but now everyone’s affected.”
Not everyone, said Joe Davis, spokesman for the national Veterans of Foreign Wars. Only a tiny percentage of Americans bear the burden of the Iraq war.
During the Revolutionary War, half of the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence took up arms to fight the British.
In World War II, the entire nation sacrificed. The country had war bonds, “Rosie the Riveter,” and recycling drives for rubber, tin and kitchen fats. More than 16 million of the country’s 130 million citizens wore the uniform.
In 2007, only 2.2 million of a country of 300 million are serving.
“The only people at war are those in uniform and their loved ones,” Davis said.
Memorial Day commemorates the men and women who have died in military service. It began with the Grand Army of the Potomac, to honor Union soldiers who died during the Civil War.
The holiday used to be celebrated May 30, but in 1971 Congress changed it to the last Monday in May to allow for a three-day weekend.
Changing the date has undermined the meaning of the day, Davis said.
“Instead of a day to commemorate the fallen soldiers, to most Americans it’s become a day of beach, barbecue and beer,” he said. “Memorial Day is more than a three-day weekend at the beach.”
Ronald Spector, professor of history and international relations at The George Washington University, said it’s difficult to determine whether fewer people celebrate Memorial Day, but there have been some changes in the past 30 years.
Because of cable TV and C-SPAN, more people can watch the entire national celebration, he said. Vietnam veterans started Rolling Thunder, a motorcycle rally, to advocate the return of prisoners of war and soldiers missing in action.
“I suspect the Gulf War generation will produce its own distinct observation,” he said. “But it’s too early to tell.”
Darren Smykowski, 22, drove straight from work as a police officer in Cleveland to the Arlington Cemetery grave of his brother Mark, who was killed at the age of 23 in Iraq last June.
Smykowski, a Marine like his two older brothers, said he hadn’t been emotionally ready to revisit his brother’s burial site until this week.
“Unless you know what it is, you really can’t explain it,” he said. “You think about all the guys, you think about what they gave. One day out of the year is not too much.”
National Memorial Parade to close roads
With Rolling Thunder out of the way, District officials today are focused on the National Memorial Day Parade, which will result in a litany of rolling road closures starting at 8 a.m. Officials urge those attending the parade to take the Metro. Closed are Seventh Street between Constitution and Independence avenues; Constitution Avenue between Seventh and Ninth streets; Virginia Avenue between Constitution Avenue and 23rd Street; Constitution Avenue between Ninth Avenue and 23rd Street; and 18th, 19th, 20th, 21st and 22nd streets between Virginia Avenue and E Street. — Michael Neibauer
