Memorial Day – A Day Of Remembrance
Dear Editor,
On Memorial Day, let’s give remembrance to the 1.8 million veterans that gave their lives over the past 243 years to keep our freedoms that we enjoy today.
On Memorial Day, the president or vice-president will place a wreath at the tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery in Washington D.C. in remembrance of those that gave their lives. Flags will be raised to full staff and then lower to half-staff until noon and then raise to full staff to indicate that they did not die in vain. Small flags will be placed on graves across the country. At 3 p.m. a moment of silent will be held in remembrance of those that gave it all.
As we honor our dead warriors this Memorial Day, take the time to remember how we got to be the greatest nation on earth, and tell those who are only glad that they have a three-day weekend, that it is because of the price paid in blood, by those we memorialize on this day, that they have any rights at all.
Many believe that they have all the rights and freedoms that they have, just because they were born in America; no one taught them that those freedoms were earned with the blood of patriots.
If our nation continues to produce men and women willing to “bear any burden, pay any price,” our nation earns the liberty it enjoys. That is the eternal meaning of this day.
And we owe the veterans something. We owe them first a promise: That we will never forget their sacrifices. And there are other promises. We must always remember that peace is a fragile thing that needs constant vigilance. We owe them a promise to look at the world with a steady gaze and, perhaps, a resigned toughness, knowing that we have adversaries in the world and challenges and the only way to meet them and maintain the peace is by staying strong.
So, on Memorial Day let’s remember those that sacrificed so much and let’s dedicate ourselves to protect what their sacrifice meant.
God Bless America and God Bless those that gave so much.
Huey P. O’Neal,
USAF – Retired
