Sometimes you get to know your own country best by visiting another country. That was my experience after a recent trip to Israel during their Memorial Day and Independence Day celebrations this past April. Perhaps, like me, you were unaware that in Israel, those two holidays are back to back.…
, those two holidays are back to back. Memorial Day took place on April 24, and Independence Day was on April 25. This year, the holidays were amplified by the celebration of the 75th anniversary of Israel’s statehood.
Everyone seemed to know someone who died in a war or who died as a victim of terrorism. Some of the people we spoke to had loved ones who died in the Holocaust. It was a somber day. And since all young people serve in the military, the pathos of this day was shared widely across the generations. At the end of the trip, I thought to myself: If I could bring back to America anything that I’d seen in Israel, or if I could wave a wand and change our national life, what would it be? Three things stood out. First, I would not only emphasize what Memorial Day and Independence Day mean for us, but I would also move our holidays back to back.
Second, I would figure out a way to require mandatory national service for all young people — perhaps some combination of military and national civil service, to forge a unifying experience.
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