Liberty
"As we turn the calendar's pages to yet another Memorial Day, I feel compelled to issue a ... challenge, one I offer not as a clergyman but as an American. Simply, let's not lose focus about what this most solemn of national holidays should really be about. Too often Americans view the Memorial Day holiday as a pleasant three-day weekend kicking off the summer, perhaps with the year's first trip to the beach or the lake. We are inclined to think of the Fourth of July as the highlight of the season, with parades and fireworks to renew our nation's dedication to the principles of liberty. But it's worth remembering that we are able to celebrate Independence Day only because of the sacrifices made by the men and women whose lives were cut short to advance those principles. Memorial Day is for honoring their supreme sacrifice. But what does that mean? It is not enough simply to bow our heads and note that more than a million men and women have given their lives so that we may be free. That reduces their sacrifice to mere statistics. The challenge for the living is to keep in mind what each of those individual sacrifices represented. Each soldier, sailor, airman, or marine who died in battle left behind loved ones who mourned their deeply personal loss. They were fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, childhood friends, relatives, neighbors, and members of the community. In giving their lives, they left unfulfilled dreams and ambitions to add to their loved ones' sorrows. That's a million instances of tremendous personal anguish. ... Nothing underscores the importance of liberty as much as the price paid for it. How else to explain the paradox that the price for freedom was so often paid for by those who willingly gave up their own? That sacrifice testifies to the extraordinary power of the ideal of freedom." --author and pastor Rev. Richard G. Lee
Thank You
"Alone, we stand as the shining beacon of liberty and freedom to the world. The freedoms we enjoy today have not come without a price and are too often taken for granted. Because of the brave men and women -- who, from the very start of our nation's existence, have worn the uniform of all branches of the military so we can live in freedom without fear -- we have the freedom to worship as we choose; vote as we choose; travel from one end of this great country to the other; and the opportunity to succeed or fail in pursuing our own individual versions of the American dream. Every American, especially our children, needs to understand and embrace the sacrifices of our soldiers, sailors, airmen, guardsmen, and marines -- and most importantly, what their families have endured, all to help preserve the promise of the American dream. At a military cemetery, there is no differentiation of politics, rank, color, or gender -- just men and women who had the honor to wear the uniform of the United States of America. For it is at this final resting place that one of our Founding Fathers' principles, 'All Men Are Created Equal,' truly comes to life. ... To those of every generation who made that commitment, the commitment to duty, honor, and country, we say: Thank you!" --author Tom RuckThank you to all the Men & Women serving in the Armed Forces and to all those that have fallen. I thank you for your bravery and today we Honor you! Now, that is the All Right Idea!