This Memorial Day…

Every crisis has new heroes. During the 9/11 attacks, they were the first responders running into burning and crumbling buildings as others ran out. Now, during the Coronavirus pandemic, the most visible heroes are the health care professionals, who are saving others and risking their own lives while doing so.
These heroes have much in common with the people that we honor this Memorial Day – America’s fallen veterans. They are men and women who have sacrificed their own lives so others could live. They are both elite and ordinary. They are elite in the sense of character. Giving your life so others could live is the ultimate definition of selfless.
They are ordinary in the fact that they represent the diverse fabric of our country. They are rich and poor, black and white, male and female. They come from every ethnicity and background. In short, they looked, acted, lived like any one of us.
As we celebrate the selfless and untiring performances of the healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic, it brings to mind the military medics, doctors, and nurses who sacrificed their lives while treating others on the battlefield.
One such hero was Lieutenant Sharon Lane. According to her biographer, Philip Bigler, Lt. Lane threw herself into her work as a nurse. While serving in Colorado, she requested a transfer to Vietnam. “There at least you are busy twelve hours a day, six or seven days a week,” she said in a 1968 letter to her parents. In the early morning of June 8, 1969, Sharon’s tour of duty ended. A Soviet-built rocket struck the hospital. Lieutenant Sharon A. Lane was killed in action at age 25.
If she were still here, her skills as a nurse might still be benefiting us during the current crisis. Not all the heroes working during the COVID-19 pandemic are in the healthcare industry. Grocers, first responders, delivery workers, and drive-through restaurant employees are just a few of the many people that we rely on to provide vital services for society while risking their own safety.
The military also has heroes in every occupational field. Truck drivers, cooks, and administrative clerks have all paid the ultimate price. At sea, on land, or in the air – military service requires great risk. Approximately one million men and women of the U.S. military have lost their lives in defense of our nation since the founding of this great Republic.
Not all have died from enemy fire. Some have died from diseases that have too often festered around war zones. Oftentimes, deaths from disease and accidents outnumbered casualties caused by enemy weapons. During the Spanish American War, sixty soldiers of the all-black 24th Infantry Regiment volunteered to serve as nurses. Thirty-six of them would later die of yellow fever or malaria.
A generation later the flu would kill nearly 16,000 U.S. soldiers in France during World War I. Another 30,000 American service members died in stateside camps. These men and women could have isolated safely in their homes, but they knew they had an important job to do. A mission to accomplish. They were all on a mission to serve. Even when the enemy is an invisible virus or a microscopic germ, the sacrifices made are just as meaningful. The U.S. military has already lost service members to COVID-19, adding to their history of service and sacrifice.
This Memorial Day, as we continue to honor those who fell for us in battle, let’s also pause to remember those who have also sacrificed their lives while serving others.