It’s been many years since I watched the movie “Saving Private Ryan,” but the last scene still sticks with me.
The title character leans down to hear the raspy final words of one of the men who fought and died to protect him.
“Earn this. Earn it,” says Captain Miller, played by Tom Hanks, as he lays dying in a bloody World War II battlefield.
We then see the face of young Private James Ryan, played by Matt Damon, as within moments he ages into an old man who has come back to Europe with his wife, children and grandchildren.
As he stands at the grave of Captain Miller, he examines the life he has led and the sacrifices that allowed him to live.
“Every day I think about what you said to me that day on the bridge,” he says to Captain Miller’s cross, one of thousands that spread before him in the wartime cemetery. “I tried to live my life the best that I could. I hope that was enough. I hope that, at least in your eyes, I've earned what all of you have done for me.”
This weekend is Memorial Day, and it’s an important time to remind ourselves that we have been given a great gift by people who sacrificed everything for us.
We need to earn it. Every day.
There will be Memorial Day events across our area on Monday. You should attend. They are solemn events. They are somber. They are a lot less fun than a barbecue. But they are essential. In a time with so much political strife, such a mix of affluence and struggle, these Memorial Day services are a crucial reminder that we are the beneficiaries of those who came before. We are all in this together, because our neighbors fought and died when their country demanded it of them.
I want to earn and be worthy of that sacrifice. That’s a job for every day. A time like Memorial Day is a good moment to rededicate ourselves to that job.
One way we do that is by coming together to work for a better community. I saw a sign of that a few weeks ago at the Spring Youth Fair during the dedication of the Lee Coumbs Exhibition Hall at the Southwest Washington Fairgrounds.
It’s a worthy tribute to someone who had a special skill in bringing people on board to work together.
While walking through the building amongst hundreds of children’s art pieces, I ran into a longtime collaborator with Coumbs, retired dairy farmer Pete Dykstra of Curtis.
He told me about how Coumbs had the idea of a Spring Youth Fair in 1982.
“In four months we put this together,” Dykstra said, with an eye toward creating a fair experience for kids who weren’t part of 4-H or FFA. “If you don’t have an animal, borrow one.”
It was a do-it-yourself effort. Anyone with an idea was brought right into the project.
“One guy said, ‘why don’t we have a swine department?’” Dykstra recalled, along with the answer the man received. “‘We do now. You’re in charge. Put it together.’”
We are blessed that in this moment of time, we are only demanded to serve our community and be responsible citizens, not fight in a war. But those hard times might come again. We must always be ready and strong. A way to do that is to train our youth to serve and steel our own work ethic to jump in and get involved.
Let us honor the soldiers who made the ultimate sacrifice and let us stand alongside a neighbor who asks you to step up and get to work. This is how we begin to earn the good things we’ve received.
•••
Brian Mittge is a community enthusiast who has written for The Chronicle since 2000 as a reporter, editor and columnist. He can be reached at brianmittge@hotmail.com.
