{"id":522,"date":"2023-05-26T18:01:00","date_gmt":"2023-05-26T22:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rickollie.com\/?p=522"},"modified":"2024-04-12T14:52:56","modified_gmt":"2024-04-12T18:52:56","slug":"memorial-day-weekend-23","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rickollie.com\/es\/2023\/05\/26\/memorial-day-weekend-23\/","title":{"rendered":"Memorial Day Weekend ’23"},"content":{"rendered":"

The True Cost of War<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

May 26, 2023<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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     Memorial Day, <\/strong>nor the weekend, <\/strong>seemed like much while I was growing up. Even though three of my four uncles, on my mother’s side, had or were serving in the United States Marine Corp<\/strong>.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

     Never knew my father, his names not even listed on my birth certificate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     My grandparents raised me, and I wasn’t close to my mother. She’s long since passed. I never questioned her about him when I traveled to Arizona, where she lived at the time, to attend college and try and forge a relationship with her. That attempted gesture never panned out and within six months of my arrival, she had left for Ohio unannounced to me. Definitely no way to leave your eldest child, even as a young adult. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

     That was in early ’83. And up to her passing in ’96 I had only spoken to her briefly on a couple occasions. I didn’t hate her. I skimpily didn’t care. Perhaps this is where I learned to become indifferent to certain aspects of life and my own feelings. Needless to say, I have no clue if my father or any of his family members had served in the armed forces. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    I often wonder if my generations deaths in battle were of any real contribution to what’s called the greatest nation on the planet. I say that hesitantly and loosely, remembering this clip from “The Newsroom,”<\/strong> with actor Jeff Daniels. Sadly, I believe this is what they served for. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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