Daring Greatly: A Memorial Day Reflection on Sacrifice and Legacy

As we give pause on this Memorial Day to honor those who have made the ultimate sacrifice, this pause has allowed me to remember my great-grandparents and grandparents who came to this country from Italy with literally a dollar and a dream. They did not leave Italy for riches. Rather, they came to the US for enrichment. They came to enrich their lives and their children’s lives. That’s the beauty of this country. It is truly a country that allows people to be all they can and want to be.

I remember the stories of my dad’s dad who worked on the railroad and helped build the infrastructure of the 1930’s. He and his brothers all worked hard to provide a better life for their families. But most of all, their hard work provided the opportunity to cherish their time together; enjoying the traditions and richness of memories families create.

Not they, nor their families would have had those wonderful memories of Sunday pasta dinners and Pitta ‘nchiusa at Christmas time if it wasn’t for their courage to start a new life in such a great country. Notice the last three letters of Pitta ‘nchiusa? How appropriate. Some came here through Ellis Island and some through Boston. As my dad tells the story, most with less than a dollar in their pockets. One uncle even changed his last name because Italians were frowned upon. Through it all, their hard work, perseverance and dedication drove them so that they may contribute their efforts to make this the greatest country in the world. Many of them served in the armed forces. The beauty of this story is that it is not the only one. Every one of us has a story like that if we go back far enough. That is who we are. We are a nation of those who had the courage to dare greatly. Who came with nothing but gave it their all to make a better life.

So when I think of Memorial Day, I think of those times as a child. I remember as a little leaguer dressed in our uniforms marching in our local town parade with the fire company, police force, school marching bands, and most of all, our veterans. We all took that moment in time…to pause, to give thanks, and to praise those who lost their lives to protect us and to protect what we have in this country.

Times sure have changed as technology has injected organized chaos into our lives where every day seems more hectic than the next. But this is why we have holidays and why we should stop, give thought, and thanks. We have so much to be grateful for even though sometimes the political divide seems to widen every day by the wedge of 24/7 media. How about for just one day, we put our political swords down and honor those who’ve honored us with the most cherished act possible…their lives.  Without them, we could not be a nation that is still revered as the best place to live and work.

As I think upon these words and this day, a portion of a speech that Theodore Roosevelt gave in Paris in 1910 rings loud and true. It is also what we strive to be at Capstone Green Energy .

 “It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself in a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat.”

—Theodore Roosevelt

Speech at the Sorbonne, Paris, April 1910

At Capstone, our core values are summarized by the acronym CLIMB which remind us of our principles:

• Courage to dare greatly
• Little things matter
• lterate to success
• Mutual trust among all
• Be the best

Now, I’m sure I may have upset someone for an error or omission of some sort. It was not intentional so please take a breath and appreciate whatever good you may find in these thoughts.

God bless America and may god bless those souls who walk among us who gave their lives to keep us safe; who have honored the spirit of what our forefathers built this country upon.

Happy Memorial Day all.