In Memoriam

by Dennis Green

More Americans died in the Civil War than in any other, because, of course, Americans were fighting each other from both sides of the conflict. In 1886, Memorial Day was established to honor those many thousands of dead, and it’s good to remember that as we fire up the barbecue or go shopping.

There will be two ceremonies today in Alameda — one on the carrier U.S.S. Hornet, which fought in World War II, carrying Jimmy Doolittle and his raiders into their famous raid over Tokyo early in the war, giving a tremendous boost to morale back home — and the other near our house at the flagpole and memorial plaques at the entrance to the community of Harbor Bay.

I won’t be tottering over there on my cane, but Diane will drive me to a couple of stores for some necessary supplies, including food for my aquatic turtles and tropical fish. I’m gradually resuming my household chores and hope to do a little gardening this week, prying some invasive daisies out of the lawn and weeding around one rose bush which has just come back from the dead with a glorious burst of red blossoms.

On this day, I remember those I knew who fought in combat, including one who died in the Battle of the Bulge, my cousin Stanley. My uncle Bob, who fought all across the Pacific in the U.S. Navy; my professor and mentor Marvin Mudrick who fought across those Pacific Islands as well, in the Army; another professor and friend, Ed Loomis, who led a machine gun squad across Europe; and a third professor of mine, Douwe Stuurman, in Army Intelligence, who was among the first forward troops into Berlin, ahead of the Soviets.

And there’s my dear friend Larry Settles, who fought five tours of duty as an Airborne Ranger in Vietnam, and died years later of neurological injuries he received there. And of course, Paul Fossum, Navy SEAL with a Navy Cross and a warrior of the first rank who visited Alameda recently and regaled us with stories of his life.

For several years, Diane and I, as “Lazzari & Green Advertising,” worked for client Mountain View Cemetery in Oakland. We produced a big, in-depth brochure about its history, designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, great American landscape architect who also designed New York City’s Central Park, the Stanford University Campus, and consulted on the design of Yosemite National Park and of San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park. A champion of the move to naturalism, Olmsted blended the manmade with the natural landscape and his visions continue to amaze.

Every year for Mountain View, we produced a Memorial Day Service, complete with speeches by local civic leaders, and a memorial ritual including a Scottish bagpipe marching band. The mournful tunes they played brought a hush over the gathered crowd. And those moments transcended ritual and ceremony, becoming positively spiritual.

Struggling as I am with the renal failure this year, Memorial Day takes on yet another new meaning, and the solemnity I feel is lightened by great joy that I am still among the living.

©2010 Dennis Green