Memorial Day is a day for every American to remember and honor every man and woman who have served in the military, who have been injured while serving in the military and especially to remember those who died serving in the military protecting our rights as American citizens. In addition, it is a day to remember their families too. Families have been changed forever due to a family member serving in the military. Some soldiers have lost arms, legs or have suffered brain injuries impairing their ability to function for the rest of their lives. Finally, families who have had someone die while in the military will never be the same again. Someone lost a son or daughter, sibling, spouse or a child lost a parent. Therefore, we owe the men and women who have served in our military and their families a tremendous debt of gratitude. They have sacrificed themselves and their families so we can live in America and have the rights that we do. Rights that no other country offers their citizens.
However, as I look at the state of our Nation today, I wonder, are we honoring our military men and women. We have mass shootings daily. We are seeing a significant increase in anti-Semitic crime and violence along with a significant increase in violent attacks against Asian Americans. Finally we are seeing one of our fundamental rights be destroyed. The right to vote and peaceful elect our government. Our last Presidential election did not follow a peaceful transfer of power. In fact, despite the fact that the United States Supreme Court and numerous other federal courts and Secretaries of State certified it was a fair and legal election, Trump never conceded nor did he participate in handling the Presidency over to President Biden. In stead he continues to state the election was a lie. In addition to this issue, we are seeing states passing bills making it more difficult for citizens to vote. Again the United States Supreme Court and many United States Federal Courts have ruled that voting was fair and legal during the last election. Yet tonight, Texas is debating and voting on a bill, if passed, that will make it extremely difficult for citizens who have lower incomes to vote.
The men and women who served in our military and fighting in World War I, World War II, the Korean Conflict, the Viet Nam War and who have been fighting in Iraq for over 17 years we’re fighting for our American rights. They were fighting for our freedom of speech, freedom of religion and our right to vote and elect our government in a peaceful manner. I cannot help to wonder how do these military men, women and families feel about the sacrifices they made when they look at our Nation today. I doubt they feel they are being honored for their sacrifices.
If we look at the United States Capital Police, we get an answer to my question. On January 6, 2021, the United States Capital was violently attacked. You had protesters in the US Capital screaming that they were going to hang the Vice President and they had a hangman’s noose already built and waiting outside the building. In addition they were screaming that they were going to kill the Speaker of the House too. The Capital Police did their job to protect the US Capital and our Vice President, the Speaker of the House and the Senators. It didn’t matter that they were being beat will steel rods, being sprayed with pepper spray and numerous other things. Several US Capital Police were killed that day and several more have committed suicide due to the trauma they experienced. They never thought about themselves, they only thought about their jobs. As a result of the heroic efforts, the Vice President, the Speaker of the House and the Senators escaped without any injuries. The US Capital Police stopped a National tragedy from occurring that day.
The Congress was considering a commission to identify how this attack occurred and how to prevent another attack. The House of Representatives passed a proposal for a committee, but the Republican Senators voted against the committee and are some are saying there is no need to form a committee to investigate the events of that day. The US Capital Police who were interviewed after the vote claimed it was a slap in the face. Many of the officers lost their lives due to the attack and many will be permanently disabled for life. They state it is a slap in the face because they sacrificed themselves for our Nation and our right for a fair election and the Republican Senators don’t seem to care. In fact, some Senators and Donald Trump claim there was no riot. People walked in peacefully kissing and shaking the officer’s hands. However anyone who looks at the video of that day can clearly tell it was not peaceful and the protesters were there to kill.
When I consider how the US Capital Police felt, it makes me wonder about all of the other service men and women who have fought for our country. I also wonder about how the families who had loved ones killed must feel. How can they feel honored, when we are tearing apart everything they fought for and died for. We are allowing our democracy to be destroyed by a few people who only care about themselves.
In my opinion we need to be brave and show the courage that our men are women of the military have shown over the years. We need to speak up against the injustice we see and we must demand a stop to voting laws being changed so lower income families cannot vote. We also must demand that our Senators follow the Constitution. When they assumed their office, they promised to protect and uphold the US Constitution not their political party. If our soldiers were brave enough to give their lives, we should be brave enough to speak up, write letters and make phone calls. After all, how can we ask our children to stand up against bullies, if we won’t stand up for our rights that soldiers have died for?
Dr. Michael Rubino is a psychotherapist with over 20 years experience treating children and teenagers, trauma victims and first responders. For more information regarding his work visit his website at www.RubinoCounseling.com or his Facebook page www.Facebook.com/drrubino3 or his podcasts on Spotify or Apple.