Since having a baby, I have told people 'If something happened over a week ago, I can't remember it. If it happens over a week from now, I don't look forward to it.' Yes, I live in The Now these days. This Zen approach to life and time has worked fairly well for me, but I have also realized an unintended result. I don't remember so well anymore.

It's Memorial Day, so we are supposed to remember the fallen veterans. I don't come from a military family on either side, so I don't know any fallen veterans. I remember 9-11 (never forget!), but I don't remember why we had to start wars in Iraq AND Afghanistan. The Taliban terrorists don't have a nation, so why are we fighting in two nations? It has something to do with Victory, but I don't know what. The Mission was accomplished so long ago that I don't remember what else we were supposed to do there.

I can remember the birthdays of people in my immediate family, but that's about it. I can only remember the birth months of my nephews. Cousins, aunts, uncles, in-laws, I'm sorry. It's all just a bunch of numbers to me. In case I forget, Happy Birthday.

I remember Desert Storm. I was seventeen at the time, and all the boys my age thought we might get sucked into that one. It turned out that that war with Iraq only lasted about forty days. It was one of my favorite wars ever. They should all be fought like that. Hardly any dead soldiers to remember. What was it about? I don't quite remember. Something to do with a country we didn't know existed called Kuwait, and this aggression will not stand, man!

I remember Algebra but not the formulas. I remember reading The Grapes of Wrath but none of the details. I remember my screw ups but not the reasons why. I remember my successes but not the effort behind them. Is this a good thing? I don't remember.

I don't remember Vietnam. The Fall of Saigon happened when I was one year old. Over 50,000 American soldiers died there, and I don't know why. I remember the Cold War, and we all thought we would blow up. That's all the Cold War was. A threat. We hated Communism. We hated communists. Apparently, there were communists in America. I don't remember ever meeting one. We certainly hated them enough to make a lot of BIG weapons that we never used. What if we never did that? What if we didn't remember to hate people we've never known?

I don't remember what happened in the years 1978 or 1986 or 1997 or 2003. Maybe little pieces of something, but what really happened those years is but a blur. Who won the World Series or the Super Bowl? What was the big scientific breakthrough? Which veterans died for my freedom? And what am I free from? It seems like I am very much still controlled by my surroundings, the laws imposed on me, the people in charge and the actions those I have never met and who think very differently than me. Is it any wonder that I choose to not remember?

They told me about The War To End All Wars (which it didn't) and World War II. We killed some dictators, split up Germany and created Israel after the big II. That was the last war America really and definitively won, and it was still a mess after it was over. Then there's the Civil War. We fought ourselves, so we won and lost. Do we remember the Confederate veterans as much as the Union soldiers? It seems like everyone got shot at least once in that war. In the end, we assassinated our own president. It would happen two more times since then. We remember Lincoln and Kennedy, but what about Garfield? Nobody I know remembers him. He was shot in office too, you know.

I remember my routines but not the details. I remember to go to work but not the particulars for the 200 miles I drive in a day. I remember my manners but not my actions. I remember the chess pieces but not the moves of the pawns.

That's what Memorial Day is all about, remembering the pawns of the military. Really I guess we remember all the kings, queens, bishops, knights and rooks as well, but most of the military is made up of pawns. They are willing to move one step forward and be sacrificed for the good of the better pieces. Most of us are pawns, and when we go, people will forget to remember us.

I sort remember how to play chess, but like I said, I have a hard time thinking any moves ahead these days.

Chris Jungle will forget he wrote this column.