Memorial Day

On this Memorial Day, my mind goes back to a scene that took place after the Battle of Trenton. Amazingly enough, Washington had been able to convince his men to take part in the risky maneuver across the Delaware despite the fact that a number of them were a mere few days away from ending their terms of service and going home.

After the victory in Trenton, Washington had plans to attack again and enlarge the victory. However, to do so he would have to talk soldiers into re-enlisting for at least six weeks. This would be a hard sell for those who had been looking forward to returning to their homes and "normal" life. Washington crossed the Delaware with his men (again!) and made his appeal on the New Jersey side. When his men initially showed a reluctance, Washington appealed to them directly. "My brave fellows, you have done all I asked you to do, and more than could be reasonably expected, but your country is at stake, your wives, your houses, and all that you hold dear. You have worn yourselves out with the fatigues and hardships, but we know not how to spare you. If you will consent to stay one month longer, you will render that service to the cause of liberty and to your country, which you probably can never do under any other circumstances." As the drum roll was played, as one soldier recalled, "nearly all who were fit for duty" in the regiment stepped forward.

Wrote David Hackett Fischer in Washington's Crossing, "These were veterans who understood what they were being asked to do. They knew well what the cost might be. One off them remembered later that nearly half of the men who stepped forward would be killed in the fighting or dead of disease 'soon after.'

Something to think about on a holiday that all too often becomes just another "day off" at the beach. This is a day to think about those who made the ultimate sacrifice so that we can live the lives we live.