In memory

Today is Memorial Day -- a holiday that has evolved into so much more than its original intent, which was to honor those who have given their lives in service to this great country. Memorial Day originated after the American Civil War as Decoration Day to honor the fallen Union soldiers. By this century its purpose has been expanded to honor all those who have died in wartime. Many use that day to honor all those loved ones who have died before us, with the decoration of grave sites in memory of friends and relatives a common and symbolic practice. The American flag is displayed prominently along streets and on homes, and is traditionally flown at half-staff until noon on this day, and then raised to full-staff for the remainder of the day. The grave sites of deceased veterans are decorated with flags as well. Services remembering the fallen are held, lest we forget the holiday's true intent. Memorial Day is observed on the last Monday of May. Ironically, it has become so much more than just a day of remembrance. Memorial Day typically marks the start of the summer vacation season. It is a long weekend for most Americans, meaning a time for cookouts, camping, boating, family, and relaxation as well. And the Indianapolis 500 car race usually coincides with this weekend. We have woven so much into this holiday. But let's not forget its original intent. Wikipedia tallies the total of U.S. war dead at 848,163 combat-related deaths, and the total dead and wounded from all conflicts since 1775 at 2,489,335. Neither the Iraq War or Afghanistan crack the top 10 conflicts in U.S. deaths. Far and away the costliest war in terms of human lives was the Civil War with 625,000 deaths. The Civil War was followed by World War II with 405,399 deaths, World War I with 116,516, Vietnam with 58,209, and Korea with 36,516. To put these numbers into perspective, an average of 599 lives were lost per day during the Civil War from 1861-65, and the daily loss numbers decline to 416 (WWII), 279 (WWI), 26 (Vietnam) and 45 (Korea). By contrast, total US deaths in Iraq have totaled 3,542, and in Afghanistan 1,435. This is not to downplay the human cost of our latest wars, but rather to provide a perspective that wars have taken a significant toll and that, as we hear so often, "Freedom is not free." I was fortunate that during my 30 years in the Army I was never in harm's way. As fate would have it I was on the ground in Panama City in 1989 when Operation Just Cause was initiated to hunt down Panamanian President Manuel Noriega and to free that country from his tyranny. We all heard the shots fired and watched Press Secretary Marlin Fitzwater simultaneously announce the beginning of that operation as we heard the firefight going on a few miles away. But we were never in serious danger. Others I knew or knew of weren't so fortunate. The first was my uncle, George Jarding, a young 19-year-old sailor aboard the USS Oklahoma, sunk by the Japanese at Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941. That attack lasted one hour, 50 minutes, and took the lives of 2,335 US military personnel. The main target of the Japanese that day was to be the aircraft carriers; however, since all three U.S. aircraft carriers were out to sea, the Japanese focused on the battleships. There were eight battleships at Pearl Harbor that day, seven lined up in "Battleship Row." During the attack, the Nevada left its berth in Battleship Row and tried to make it to the harbor entrance. After being repeatedly attacked on its way, the Nevada beached itself. The Arizona exploded when a bomb breached its ammunition room. Approximately 1,100 U.S. servicemen died on board. After being torpedoed, the Oklahoma listed so badly that it turned upside down. All eight U.S. battleships were either sunk or damaged during the attack. Amazingly, all but two (the Arizona and the Oklahoma) were eventually able to return to active duty. The next was Staff Sgt. Greg Wagner, little brother of my classmate Dan Wagner. Greg died of injuries sustained when a homemade missile struck his Humvee during operations in Baghdad on May 8, 2006. I knew Greg more through close association with his family. His dad, Chuck, was a veteran, extremely active in the local Legion post; his mother, Velma, known as "Blondie," and all of Greg's brothers and sisters -- I knew them all well and considered them close friends. Dan and I played football, basketball, baseball and track together for several years. Although I never met Andrew Olmsted face-to-face, I talked to him often and worked with him on Army projects. MAJ Olmsted worked in the personnel section of my higher headquarters unit in Fort Carson, CO. The Bangor, ME native was killed in Iraq on Jan. 3, 2008 at age 37. There have been others from my home state who have lost their lives in Iraq and Afghanistan, and others seriously wounded. And there have been so many more before them. I don't know them personally, but I know they sacrificed their lives in service to their country and its ideals. I would like to ensure we remember all of them today, and keep their families and loved ones in our prayers.

The World's Only Corn Palace

Having grown up in Alexandria -- just 12 miles from Mitchell -- experiencing the "World's Only Corn Palace" was nothing special. After all, we played basketball games there, went to concerts there, drove past it on Main Street almost constantly. And, of course, "Corn Palace Week" was the annual week-long festival in early September that included a Main Street midway plus a variety of entertainers who performed on the Corn Palace stage. Over the years, some big names played the Palace -- Bob Hope, Jack Benny, Red Skelton, Lawrence Welk -- and some not-so-big names, like Carrot Top. It was always mildly interesting to see each year what theme would be adopted for the murals that adorned the Corn Palace. The murals were crafted from naturally-colored corn and other grains and native grasses. The Corn Palace's Web site claims that 13 colors and shades of corn are used for decoration, including red, brown, black, blue, white, orange, calico, yellow and green. Each ear is then nailed in place to create a scene. The corn murals are stripped at the end of August and the new ones are completed by the first of October. The designs are created by local artists. From 1948 to 1971 the artist Oscar Howe designed the panels. Calvin Schultz designed the murals from 1977 to 2002. Since 2003, the murals have been designed by Cherie Ramsdell. No new mural was created in 2006 due to an extreme drought. Kitschy? Yeah. Oh, the Corn Palace has been the butt of its share of jokes. It has been called "The world's largest bird feeder." And I recall a professional wrestler many years ago announcing on television that he would wrestle his next match at "The Popcorn Palace in Mitchell East Dakota." Ah, but it still had a special place in our hearts. And we loved playing basketball games on the large Corn Palace floor. We usually would have one or two regular-season games there, and then district and regional tournaments as well. It was close to home. It was almost our second home court. The Corn Palace is visited every year by more than 500,000 folks. I recall so often driving down Mitchell's main street and seeing tourists with their cameras in hand, gazing at the murals. I just didn't see what all the fuss was about. It was built back in 1892 when Mitchell was home to 3,000 residents. The Palace was conceived as a gathering place where city residents and their rural neighbors could enjoy a fall festival with extraordinary stage entertainment – a celebration to climax a crop-growing season and harvest. The present Corn Palace was actually built in 1921 as a larger, more permanent, purposeful structure than its two predecessors. According to its Web site, "Today, the Corn Palace is more than the home of the festival or a point of interest of tourists. It is a practical structure adaptable to many purposes. Included among its many uses are industrial exhibits, dances, stage shows, meetings, banquets, proms, graduations arena for Mitchell High School and Dakota Wesleyan University as well as district, regional and state basketball tournaments. USA Today named the Corn Palace one of the top 10 places in America for high school basketball. " On May 7, 2005, Garrison Keillor hosted his "Prairie Home Companion" show from the Corn Palace, opening with a song about Mitchell and including many references to the Corn Palace during the show. It's got its own listing in the book, "1,000 Places to see Before You Die." But the utility of the Corn Palace has been called into question now, and it's the topic of much conversation in Mitchell. How important is it to Mitchell's economy? Should it be remodeled and if so, how much should be spent? The former became a discussion topic when the city was considering building an events center near the Hwy. 37 bypass. That idea was eventually rejected by voters. So how important is the Corn Palace? Well, it's nearly synonymous with the city. After all, the sports teams are named the "Kernels." The local AM radio station used to have the call letters KORN. It would just be weird without the Corn Palace in Mitchell and part of its identity. Kitschy, quirky or not.

Reading the Bible

Although I never thought to put this one item on my "bucket list," it should have been there at the very top. For the last four nights, Barbara and I have been reading the Bible. I have found I have a desire to read it, to understand it, to read God's Word and how it applies to our lives. I've read many good books over the years -- hundreds if not thousands -- but none with more relevance to the age in which we live. And, sadly, I have so little knowledge of what lies within the Bible's pages. So this week we began reading in the Book of Proverbs. Barbara tells me that this book was written by Solomon, son of David. I have to depend on her knowledge because I am admittedly woefully ignorant of the Bible's teachings. As we read Proverbs, occasionally we comment on a passage's applicability to our lives, or we may remark when a proverb is repeated sometimes in several different ways. In my years growing up at home, Mom and Dad always made sure we attended weekly Mass, the occasional mission services, Stations of the Cross, and we recited the Rosary nightly during Lent. I thought I was a pretty faithful Christian. But my knowledge was sadly lacking. I had ignored the Bible. My interest has been piqued in our Sunday School class. Barbara and I attend an hour-long class prior to Sunday's worship service. We have been studying the Gospel according to Luke, and I am impressed by the knowledge and foresight of our class members' interpretations of its text. I offer little so as not to display my ignorance. You know the old saying, "It's better to be silent and thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt." I couldn't even tell you in what order the Bible's books are presented. My knowledge was pretty much limited to the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Anyway, I have great admiration for our instructor, Ron, who leads us through the weekly passages, offers thought-provoking questions and guides our discussion. There is so much more to learn when delving into Jesus' life with other interested followers. Before we began this class, the Bible was, for me, mainly a decorative addition to a coffee table or a receptacle for written family histories. I have always wanted to read the Bible, but to pick up a thick book in small print with thousands of footnotes and pages and pages of maps and commit to reading it was a daunting task. And when I opened it I was intimidated. How would I ever be able to understand what I read? This class has stirred my interest and helped me get beyond the "fear factor." Several weeks ago we attended the funeral of the great man who taught our Sunday School class before the ravages of cancer became too great for him to continue. Ernie was our instructor for only a couple times since we joined, but his knowledge of and love of the Bible was evident in the extensive notes and thought-provoking questions he posed to us. We were told that Ernie had read through the Bible seven times. Seven times! Here was a man who so loved God's Word and was committed to helping others understand and appreciate it that he read it over and over and challenged his Sunday School class to probe deeper into the ministry of Christ. When Ernie passed away, Barb and I waited in line for 45 minutes to express our sympathies to his wife and family. Ernie had touched so many lives. His example also made a deep impression on me and made me wonder why I am not more like that. So I am hopeful that we will continue to spend some time every night to read the Bible. Barb can tell me her thoughts, and eventually I'll probably get comfortable enough to share mine. But having read the first 20 chapters of the Book of Proverbs means there's a whole lot more reading to do. I hope and pray that I have the love, conviction and passion to read and absorb it.