Honoring our heroes on Memorial Day

Memorial Day has long served as the day of honoring our fallen heroes.

On Monday, we should remember them and their sacrifice that stands as a reminder of what it takes to preserve our nation and its freedoms.

They, along with their families, paid the ultimate price for it and the very least we can do to repay them is to remember them.

Originating as Decoration Day after the American Civil War, Memorial Day has long served as a time of remembering those who died in military service. The first honored were Union soldiers who died in the Civil War. Three years after the war ended on May 5, 1868, the Grand Army of the Republic established Decoration Day nationally on May 30.

The first large observance was held this same year at Arlington National Cemetery across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C.

After World War I, the observance was extended to include all men and women who died in a war or military action.It has become a cherished patriotic observance because it gives us all an opportunity to honor those who died defending democracy.

And we should never doubt that the sacrifice has been made and will continue to be required us in the call of a duty that requires eternal vigilance.

Simply put, freedom is not free.

As the late President John F. Kennedy said it: “Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty.”

Add to that thought Abraham Lincoln’s words, “My dream is of a place and a time where America will once again be seen as the last best hope of earth.”

The American flag has many times been unfurled in the ever-testing winds of turbulent times, often leaving it tattered and worn.

The sight of it on Memorial Day, resplendent in the patriotic stars and stripes that represent our united states, should still symbolizes a grateful nation that remembers its heroes … the people who sacrificed their lives so we could be free.

 

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