Memorial Day is more than a vacation day

By Micah Greenstein, Guest Columnist, The Daily Memphian

“With his face to the enemy,” Helen Cohen wrote about her soldier son.

Albert Cohen Jr. was born in New Orleans in 1903 to Albert Cohen of England and Helen Cohen of Scotland. In 1905, the family moved to 1673 E. Beard Place in Memphis.

In April 1917, shortly after the United States entered World War I, young Albert Cohen ran away from home at age 13, traveling by train to Birmingham to enlist in the Army. He lied about his age and was accepted into the Army.

Albert Cohen trained at Fort Oglethorpe in Georgia and became an expert marksman. On Jan. 5, 1918, he shipped out to France where he spent the rest of his military career. 

Albert Cohen fell during the Meuse-Argonne offensive Oct. 5, 1918. His mother wrote in her memorial to the Tennessee Gold Star archive that more than 50% of his company perished that day.

Albert Cohen was killed as he charged a machine gun nest “with his face to the enemy.”

At the time of his death, Albert Cohen was one month shy of his 15th birthday. He was the youngest American to die in uniform in WWI.

Rather than being buried at Arlington National Cemetery in Washington, D.C., he rests in the Temple Israel cemetery in South Memphis.

Albert’s short life, and his extraordinary valor in his determination to serve his country, reminds me this year of why we have Memorial Day in the U.S.

It’s much more than a long weekend and an excuse to kick off summer after the fleeting springtime we have in Memphis.

Surprisingly, Memorial Day was conceived by Southerners in 1866 in the aftermath of the Civil War. In Columbus, Georgia, residents — especially women — decorated graves not only of Confederate soldiers but also of their former enemies who fought for the Union.

Shortly after those first Memorial Day observances across the South, newspaper coverage in the North was highly favorable to these fallen Confederates.

Stories emerged of groups in the North and South, representing Black and white, bereaved of Union and Confederate soldiers holding Decoration Days to lay flowers on the graves of those who served.

Then in 1868, John A. Logan, commander-in-chief of the Grand Army of the Republic, an organization of Union veterans, issued the Memorial Day Order for our nation at a time when America sought healing and reconciliation. 

Would that the same happen across regions, races and religions in America today!

Would that neighbors and elected officials who never served in uniform grasp the meaning of Memorial Day for America by asking one simple question, “What have our children, or we their parents, really sacrificed in defense of this great country?” 

How many relatives in recent generations, not just the Greatest Generation who were conscripted and fought in WWII, of our own relatives and friends fought and died in Korea, Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan? 

Regardless of the war, all Americans owe the families of the servicemen and women who died serving our country more than lip service in gratitude, appreciation and reverence.

Our beloved Memphis Grizzlies exited the NBA playoffs early, but the eeriest moment at athletic competitions continues regardless of the city or venue. It has nothing to do with sports.

In virtually every arena as everyone has a good time decked out in fan gear and home fans cheer, the hoopla pauses for a veteran of a war to be wheeled out to midcourt or spotlighted in the stands while the crowd is urged to hush for an “Appreciation of Our Armed Forces” moment. 

Everybody stops for a few seconds and applauds, then they all return to their phones and drinks. That moment encapsulates the extent of sacrifice for too many of us who are neither veterans nor families of veterans who have served and died in defense of democracy.

In Overton Park, there is a memorial to 230 young men from Shelby County who died serving in WWI. The names are listed below, “The Doughboy” sculpture by Nancy Coonsman Hahn.

One of those names is Albert Cohen Jr.

I stopped in front of Albert Cohen Jr.’s name at Temple Israel’s memorial grounds last week and read the following words aloud from the book of Genesis: “There were giants on the Earth, heroes, in those days.”

Albert Cohen Jr. was one of them.

So were all the men and women who served and sacrificed.

May your Memorial Day — and mine — be more than time off or a flag by the mailbox.

May we stop whatever we are doing and remember the hundreds of thousands of American soldiers who died so we could live in security and commitment to democracy.