Here we are once again. Yes, it is that time of year – Memorial Day. Finally, we can officially break out the barbecue and get to some serious cooking and eating. The scent of freshly cut grass fills the air, and birds seem to sing a bright song. Family and friends from all over seem to crawl from under rocks as the smell of angus patties frying in that delicious grease hits their nostrils. All over this great land golf courses are standing room only, store sales pop up like daises, and rivers and lakes are polluted with people enjoying the fruits of their labors. It is Memorial Day, it’s the three day weekend, it is a time to enjoy life and the freedom to do what we want, isn’t it? Sure it is; we have worked for it, and we deserve it. Right?
There are those that would have loved to have had the opportunity to live full lives, but they checked in to cemeteries all over this land, in the ocean and the seas, and across foreign lands. They are the ones that remained dedicated to the people, to their oath to defend at all costs the Constitution of the United States, and at all costs they did. Freedom and liberty for you and me at home was a cause to squash the oppressors who would try to deny their country and their people those rights. It really doesn’t matter what anyone says, many will choose not to remember on this day because of their stand against war, or they live in a utopian world of their own where they believe that war will never reach them. Well, the fact is many soldiers in the field were scared, starving, sick, without ammunition, alone, but stood in the face of the enemy and said, “Over my dead body!” and charged into a hail of gun fire going toe to toe at the price of their life. It is a duty for we who remain in our safe world to remember those who died, not just to place a flag at their grave, walk off and believe you did your part. These men and women became our brothers and sisters, our kindred spirit, family. They are a part of all of us because of their great sacrifice and the love they had for you and me and this country, so we must remember it is our duty to them. So this Memorial Day take the time while enjoying the weekend to remember that without the sacrifice of so many this country would be a lot different. As Patrick Henry said, “Give me liberty or give me death.”