I Should Have Stood
Gary Silverman, CFP®
(Note: This article was originally written 2012 and edited slightly with some grammar corrected and a small addition.)
It’s Memorial Day weekend, but I’m writing this article a few weeks back. I just left seeing the movie, Act of Valor. The film is about Special Forces operations, and at the end it features the actual Navy SEALS and their families on screen.
It was a good film. Not a great film, but a good one. The hardware was impressive. Drones, guns, ships, subs--the whole shebang. It’s dripping with patriotism: We (Americans) are the obvious good guys, and the bad guys are really bad. Think of the World War II films with John Wayne, but with better graphics.
But this isn’t about the movie, per se. It’s about what happened, or in my case, didn’t happen, at the end:
I should have stood.
At the end of the movie, a list scrolled on the screen of the SEALS and support personnel who have died since 9-11.
I should have stood.
The Star-Spangled Banner was not playing. No one else was standing. It was just a list of people on the screen.
Still, I should have stood.
It would have been a gesture, in an almost empty theatre, from me to a list of men I never met. But they deserved the honor of my standing at attention while their names scrolled by. It would have taken less than a minute. I was going to stand anyway to leave the theatre soon. But I just sat there on my rear end watching the names scroll by.
I wish I had stood.
Memorial Day is a somber time to honor and remember the men and women who gave their lives on behalf of our country. This is not the time we question whether the fight should or should not have been fought. It is the time that we memorialize those that fought and died when our country asked them to.
So, while you are roasting a hot dog, heading out to the water park, or sitting back watching the game, take a moment and stand. Stand in remembrance, in thanks, in appreciation, in honor for those whose lives ended doing their country’s request.
While you’re at it, think of those who are still serving.
PS: A movie currently available in 2025, Warrior, is another true story about Navy SEALS. I highly recommend it with the warning that it is very accurate and as such might be hard for some to watch.
Gary Silverman, CFP® is the founder of Personal Money Planning, a retirement planning and investment management firm located in
