Chicago's Memorial Day Parade - Essay Example

Reflective Essay Name Institution Chicago's Memorial Day Parade Introduction The Chicago Memorial Day Parade is an annual event which is organized by the United States’ Department Cultural Affairs and Special Events. The event is organized in remembrance of the servicemen and women who have made ultimate sacrifice in protecting the country. The ceremony is made in honor of those have fallen or wounded while serving in the military. The Chicago parade was started in 1870 after the American Civil War, and from that time thousands come to Chicago each year to celebrate our the living and fallen servicemen and women (Chicago Government, 2015). The Chicago parade is regarded as one of the biggest Memorial Day parades in the United States. The event will be held on Saturday 23rd May 2015, and as it has been the custom, it would begin at 11 am at the Eternal Flame in Daley Plaza with the Wreath Laying Ceremony. After this, the parading event would begin at noon from Dearborn and Washington Streets and then head south on State Street to Van Buren Street (Chicago Government, 2015). I chose to attend this event because of the desire I have as a patriot of this great nation to learn and understand where we have come from, where we are and where we are going. I chose to join other citizens in celebrating our servicemen and women who sacrificed to serve our nation diligently. Because of my passion to learn about the history of America, this event was one which could offer me insights about our past. My Experience At Wreath Laying Ceremony The Chicago Memorial Day Parade started at 11 am as planned at the city's Eternal Flame which is a monument which was built in memory of fallen US soldiers. The monument of has a flame of burning natural gas with a bronze plate surrounding it but it has since been discolored because of the flame. The Wreath Laying Ceremony was conducted in honor of the servicemen who have fallen while serving the nation as soldiers. These are people who courageously stood to defend both American and other citizen from war tone regions such as Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Libya, Egypt and other countries across the globe. For centuries, many American have participated in wars in a bit to maintain world peace, but unfortunately there are many who have died in battle. For this reason, we celebrate these men and women. At the Wreath Laying Ceremony, survivors and fallen war heroes and heroines where given special recognition. Selected survivors were given an opportunity to share their experiences and how they survived. As they narrated their stories, I could see the sorrow in them as they narrated how some of their fellow servicemen and women died as they helplessly watched. Their narration reincarnated their memories and urged people to pray for soldiers who are on peace keeping missions in various Asian and African countries. In attendance at the Wreath Laying Ceremony were high ranking government officials from the Department of Defense and the Department Cultural Affairs and Special Events. They reiterated on the important of paying for world peace and remembering fallen soldiers as well as those in peace keeping missions. Also in attendance were the Gold Star family members who are the family members of the fallen servicemen and women. I could easily identify then because of the Gold Star Lapel Buttons and the Next of Kin Lapel Buttons which they wore. These Gold Star Pins are a symbol of honor as we remember their fathers, mothers, sons and daughters who died in service. The Gold Star Pins are given to these family members, not as an award, but as a symbol of honor. As these families remember their fallen loved one, I could see and feel the emotional attachment and therefore these Gold Star Pins had a great meaning for these families. The Gold Star Lapel Button and the Next of Kin Lapel Button Figure 1: Gold Star Pins (Source: IMCOM, 2015) The Gold Star Lapel Button is made up of a gold star which is on a purple background. The star is bordered by a gold ring and surrounding it is a gold laurel leaves. The Gold Star Lapel Button is worn by family members of service members who died during wars in which the United States soldiers were part of. This recognition dates back to the time of World War I. It includes soldiers who die during terrorism fighting missions and also world peace keeping missions where the US military had been deployed. The other Gold Star Pin is the Lapel Button for Next of Kin and it consists of a gold star embedded within a gold circle which honors the fallen service member. In addition, surrounding this star are oak sprigs which are represents the different Armed Forces branches. These are meant to honor fallen service members who are not covered by the Gold Star Lapel Button. At The Parade The parade started at around noon after the Wreath Laying Ceremony at Eternal Flame. Thousands of people lined up along the parade route as they watched and celebrated with the veterans’ groups such as 911 veteran float, military marching bands, Gold Star Families’ marching band, neighboring schools’ marching bands, the drum and bugle corps among other marching groups such as union league of Chicago and Miller pub. The bands were differentiated by their uniforms and matching styles. Some matched as they sang patriotic songs, played drums and trumpets while others drove of their floats. Other bands carried the US national flag and other flags such as to military flags and Gold Star Family flag. One of the most spectacular float was the Gold Star Families float which carried an honor for the fallen servicemen and women. The thousands who turned up for the event marched on the street sides alongside with the bands. They continuously cheered for the bands as they showcased their spectacular marching moves, dances, and drum beats. Beginning from Daley Plaza the marching bands and floats headed south on State Street to Van Buren Street. Apart from the bands, there were many groups among the people who sang and danced their patriotic tunes. Most of the people carried flags and others wore costumes which bore the colors of the national flag. The whole event was very colorful, and from the faces of the many that turned up, they enjoyed it all. The celebrations went on until it was dark and the city was colored with fireworks at Navy Pier. Reflection The Chicago Memorial Day Parade was a big eye opener for me in understanding our country’s rich background. Sometime historical events we hear in classes and read in books sometime sound like myths to us, but being at this festival, it became much real. Seeing families of these heroes, their portraits and other ancient war artifacts made me know that the country came from somewhere and the peace and freedom we are enjoying today is because of the sacrifices our servicemen and women made. The Chicago Memorial Day Parade has been embedded in the culture of the Chicago people as this event opens a series of several Summer Weekend events and ceremonies. Adventure has been my passion and since most of the time I have been visiting cultural concerts, I through it wise to try a totally different thing. Coming for this event created in me a totally different picture about our nation. Opening myself to try new things made me understand diversity and appreciate the rich diverse culture in our country. Confining ourselves in houses because we are worried about how to pay the bills, is denying many Americans to enjoy their country. Just getting out to enjoy myself, helps me to relax and experience the newness of the event without focusing on whether I would have to write a report. The many pictures I take during these events help me reflect on my experience as I write the report. Regular exposure to new art would make our lives to be more exiting and worth living. Experiencing new art is advancing my knowledge about the world I am living in. Through exposure to new places and new things, I am able to learn how different people do their things. With the increasing globalization though new technology, people are getting an opportunity to interact with a wide range of people from different backgrounds. Exposure to new art gives us the opportunity to learn about the culture of different people and it would therefore be much easier to relate to people from different backgrounds. Understanding different people will make us have a wider and deeper perspective on life. The advantage of this is that we will have a wider understanding about the thing happening around us and will be able to make informed decisions. Decisions are made in light of the knowledge we have about something or someone and therefore having a deeper understanding of life will enable us to make decisions that protect our wellbeing and the wellbeing of other people. Wars and conflicts occur mostly because misunderstanding caused by lack of knowledge about believes and practices other person. The unexamined life is not worth living ‘The unexamined life is not worth living’ is a quote which was made by one of the renowned Greek philosophers Socrates during his trial in 399 BC. Socrates was being accused of encouraging his students to rebel against the beliefs of the time. The jury voted him guilty and he was asked to choose alternative punishment rather the death sentence which was the legal punishment for treason. However, Socrates refused these alternatives for he believed that accepting these alternative punishments would rob him the only reason why he was living, which was understanding the world around and living such a life to make it a better place. Socrates examined his life and chose not to compromise on what he believed in, but rather died to stand for his belief. By examining life, Socrates meant that we should understand the reason for our being and if we do not understand this, there is no point of living any longer. In order to understanding the reason for our living, we should first understand where we have come from, where we are and where we are going. By examining ourselves, we get to plan about life and have a goal in life to pursue. Nobody is stress free and we all face problems, but having a goal in life makes us focus on the goal but not the problems of the time. Through this, we gain an inner freedom and happiness that is not subjected to the day to day struggles of the day. The reason as to why many people in the world today are not enjoying life is because they have not found that inner peace. They mostly focus on what is going around and become very worried about tomorrow and they fail to enjoy today. Some people get stressed up until they reach a point whereby they feel have no more desire to live and some of them end up committing suicide. Self examination will help us understand our place in the universe and strive to live by that course no matter the challenges. Having a course in life gives a person tremendous freedom since you chose what to do and when to do it. The best course of life is living such a life that make the world a better place to live in. In finding a course the best place to start is by understanding your world. Visiting new places and experiencing new art, new culture and believes provides us with a good opportunity to understand the world around us. This makes us find our place in life and from there we can be able to develop appropriate goals to pursue. In this regards, I would like to encourage everyone that we should visit more, experience and understand our world. This is because we have a greater worth in life if we set goals to achieve in making our world a better place. References Chicago Government. (2015). Chicago's Memorial Day Parade. Retrieved from http://www.cityofchicago.org/city/en/depts/dca/supp_info/memorial_day_parade.html IMCOM. (2015). Symbols of Honor. Retrieved from: http://www.goldstarpins.org/ Read More