You know, there was probably no such thing as "Imperial Day". There was no day when all the citizens of the Empire had cookouts with Shaak burgers and hot dogs. There was no celebration of fallen heroes, no missing man flyovers,etc. Because, for the most part, what and who were they commemorating? Faceless, nameless clones, numbered ad infinitum, designed from the drafting board to die without questioning their place in society.

I watched ABC Nightline last night, and they read the honor roll of the fallen. I don't know if they read each and every one of the more than 1600 men and women's names, but it went on for quite some time, two by two on the screen. There were a fair share of what we would refer to as classic "American" names. Jackson, Johnsons, Adams, and even Bush adorned the list of our nation's youth gone to war, never to return in life.

And among those names so ingrained in the American lore as those, there were many other American names, and many different types. There were Hispanic names. There were French names. There were Teutonic names. There were Asian names. There were Arabic names.

We are comprised of every single race and creed on this planet. We possess as much diversity in our own human race as there were species in the Republic Senate. Nary a single region of our world was excluded from that list of fallen protectors. These were no clones, and no mere cannon fodder. Each was a clean shaven bright face of the future. Each had a thought and a purpose in their own lives. Each had a dream of families and friends, and accomplishments yet to happen. Each surely had fear in their final moments, and therefore each valued their lives, and the lives of their brethren.

No matter what we may think of the war, no matter what we think about it's masters, these people went into combat zones thick with death and found their own, and did so believing they owed their nation the highest allegiance and the greatest sacrifice. I would imagine very few walk to a bullet thinking ill of their homeland. They, the living and the dead, know that they are protecting America, it's interests, and the world. They may not know exactly how all of the time, but they know why. It strikes me more and more that it matters less what I think, it matters more what they think. Or thought.

No, there would be no such thing as "Imperial Day", no Memorial Day for heroes of the Empire, on which everyone wears their masks with pride, spit polishes their featureless armor, and makes ready a grand spectacle celebrating total Uniformity.

Memorial Day is for Democracies. Something best not forgotten.

DM out