I think that to wish someone a happy Memorial Day is to misunderstand its meaning.

Memorial Day is the occasion this nation sets aside to remember, to grieve, and to honor those who chose or were compelled to sacrifice their lives in behalf of a cause they believed or were told was just. Those of us who have known war hear the cries of the dying forever echo in our minds and suffer the pain and loss each day of our lives. We need no holiday to remind us.

Back in the day, 1979 or 80, I forget which, a VA Psychiatrist who was evaluating me for PTSD, felt the need, for some reason, to tell me he was in the military. "There but for fortune," he said, I would be sitting on the other side of this desk.

First they turn us into killers in order to fight their immoral and illegal wars but would rather not know the specifics of what it is that they trained and conditioned us to do. Should we stray from the mythology of nobility and honor, however, and allow them access into our world, and insight into the true nature of war, they are repulsed and outraged and think us crazy and a threat to "normal" people.

Marching in a parade neither educates nor informs about the realities of war. Rather it celebrates and perpetuates the myth of honor and glory, and "The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori." I will march no more.

I am more the patriot today as I march in protest and dissent than when I wore the uniform of a United States Marine. Nor am I less the warrior, armed with a bullhorn rather than an automatic weapon.