Viewpoint: Where is the student respect for Memorial Day?
Social media statuses saluting the troops will flood the internet today but updates and photos from college students living it up may outnumber them.
Various plans of non-stop partying have invaded Facebook and Twitter since the week began with few mentioning reverence for the actual holiday.
I randomly tweeted ten college students from different schools: “Do you care about Memorial Day or is it just a three day weekend to party?”
The response unanimously favored the latter.
While the responses varied widely, the consensus was that today will not be spent reflecting on the fallen troops.
Do these opinions reflect the entire college population? Probably not. Yet, I was shocked at the blunt disregard for this patriotic occasion.
It’s been a over a decade since 9/11, but memories of the ultimate sacrifices by America’s troops seemed to have already been suppressed. Previous world and civil wars are just topics on the standard history exam that can be forgotten at the end of the semester.
This generation is so desensitized by video games and movies that the consequences of real life military combat often don’t register.
The Call of Duty series are not only a simulation of entertainment -- these scenarios are reality based. When players navigate through the virtual battlefield but fail to survive ambushes and assaults, they die and the level restarts.
Real soldiers don’t earn a spare life in actual combat -- they stay dead.
I am blessed that my father, SFC Rosendo Garza (Ret.) who served a nearly 40 year military career, first in the U.S Army and then as a military police officer for the Texas Army National Guard, came back alive from every deployment. But he never returned unscathed.
Many parents that have left their children for military service haven’t experienced a tearful, relief filled reunion. Wives and mothers have opened their front doors to see two officers with solemn expressions, bearing the news they have feared from the moment their soldier said goodbye.
Today is the official Memorial Day holiday, but this weekend shouldn’t be the only time the bravery of those men and women are honored.
There is nothing wrong with enjoying the holiday and having a good time. However, the comforts and liberties we are all afforded resulted from heroism that came at a high price.
To my fellow college students: if you are going to celebrate today, remember that.
Lisa Maria Garza is a Summer 2012 USA TODAY Collegiate Correspondent. Learn more about her here.
This story originally appeared on the USA TODAY College blog, a news source produced for college students by student journalists. The blog closed in September of 2017.