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 Filed on Monday, May 31, 2004 Special Habari By Patrick L. Thimangu | |||
| Today is Memorial Day, when Americans are supposed to pause
for remembrance of millions of their brethren, fallen in battles
dating back to the Civil War of the 1800s. It's supposed to be a solemn day of reflection, and evaluation of the price so many men and women of this nation have paid in wars that enable us to live here free and in peace. It's also a day to mourn brave warriors who perished as they fought valiantly for this nation, even in wars that ought never to have been waged. The truth, though, is that today will end for much of the populace with nary a tear nor a moment's pause for what it represents. For most East Africans living here, just like millions of other immigrants and natives, Memorial Day has little meaning. It will just be a good day to eat, drink, play soccer in the parks and be merry. The bastardization of Memorial Day is rather sad, given that all of us in the United States, whether immigrants or natives, owe so much to those who have died in conflicts that were so connected to the survival of the republic and the Western world. For East African immigrants, the true meaning of Memorial Day shouldn't be a foreign concept. We, too, can think about our great-grandfathers, grandfathers, fathers and brothers because they also died fighting to create the modern world in which we now live. About 375,000 Africans served among allied forces and performed heroically on many fronts in |
Word War II alone. The 11th East African Division, for
example, fought in treacherous battles for three years against the
Japanese in Burma. In 1944, Kenyans and Ugandans in the division's
Kings African Rifles -- part of the British 14th Army --
distinguished themselves in jungle warfare, eventually helping to
free Burma from Japanese occupation and to defeat the Axis
powers. Many East Africans died in Burma, Palestine, Ethiopia and other places where they served with the Allies. Others came back home, broken in body and mind. I recall seeing many glazed-eyed and mad old men in the village when I was growing up, and all that my relatives told me was that these veterans had been to Burma. I now know the old soldiers had seen hell, and had shell shock, or what is now known as post-traumatic stress syndrome. Ironically, Kenya's own freedom from the British is closely tied to those men who fought in big wars for the colonial power. Many of the soldiers who came back from World War I and World War II had learned something: Europeans could bleed and die, just like Africans. Kenyan veterans of the global wars founded the Mau Mau guerilla movement with that new knowledge and fought against the British, until their country gained independence on June 1, 1963. So today, Kenyans in the U.S. should reflect on the sacrifices of all the men and women | ||
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