On May 25 (weather permitting), Roger Penske will proclaim, “Drivers, start your engines,” announcing to more than 300,000 racing fans in attendance — and millions watching on televisions and devices — the beginning of the Indy 500, one of auto racing’s premier events.
For those who have never been to Indianapolis Motor Speedway to experience race day in person, The Race, as locals call it, may appear to be nothing more than a sporting event.
The Race takes place over Memorial Day weekend, and the connection is deliberate. All the service branches — Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, Space Force and Coast Guard — are honored during the Military Appreciation Lap. The opening ceremonies begin with an invocation, followed by the playing of taps, “America the Beautiful,” “God Bless America” and “The Star-Spangled Banner.” It’s an extraordinarily patriotic occasion, honoring those who have died defending American freedom.
Service to the community and country — civic engagement — is a core American attribute. There is no greater example of this than the sacrifices made by U.S. servicemen, women and their families.
Since the Revolutionary War in 1775, nearly 3 million American citizen-soldiers have been killed or wounded; more than 40,000 have gone missing. More than a third of all casualties occurred in the Civil War — more than any other conflict, including World War II.
Though most combatants were volunteers, the Civil War was the first U.S. conflict to use conscription widely. More common among Confederate forces, draftees were a small minority on the Union side, James W. Geary explains in “We Need Men: The Union Draft in the Civil War.”
This would change. President Woodrow Wilson called for a million volunteers when it became apparent that the United States could no longer avoid involvement in World War I. Only 73,000 showed up. The Selective Service Act of 1917, passed by Congress on May 18, 1917, followed.
More than 24 million men registered for the draft during the Great War, 2.8 million were inducted, and more than 53,000 — draftees and volunteers — were killed in action.
Millions more were drafted in the decades that followed. During World War II, the total jumped to 10 million, an additional 1.5 million during the Korean War, nearly 1.9 million during the Vietnam conflict — after which, in 1973, the United States abolished conscription and transitioned to an all-volunteer force.
Don’t assume, however, that draftees gave any less as soldiers than volunteers. Most gave their all, many their lives.
Staff Sgt. Lucian Adams, drafted in February 1943, survived the war. Not because he played it safe. On October 28, 1944, Adams single-handedly stormed a force of German soldiers who had pinned down his unit, killing nine, destroying three machine gun emplacements, and eliminating a specialized force equipped with automatic weapons and grenade launchers, clearing the way for his battalion, all at significant risk to his own life. He was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor in April 1945 for “conspicuous gallantry … above and beyond the call of duty.”
Adams later remarked, “The legacy of brave men and women who have fought and died for their country is the freedom we enjoy as Americans.”
On Memorial Day, it is essential not to focus solely on picnics and parties, beach-going and BBQ, the unofficial “start of summer.” Nor, even, on the Greatest Race in the World.
We must remember and honor those who have served their country, who fought, sacrificed and died for our freedom to enjoy these things.
As the Greek politician and general Pericles reportedly said in his famous “Funeral Oration” nearly 2,500 years ago, “Freedom is the sure possession of those alone who have the courage to defend it.”
Last year, Roger Penske noted as much. And he likely will again this year. “What a great day today is,” he said in 2024, but not because of the Indy 500. “More important, this day is for the men and the women and the first responders who keep our country safe and secure.”
