Memorial Day

Who kept the faith and fought the fight;
The glory theirs, the duty ours.

Wallace Bruce

On May 23, Arlington will transform into waving rows of red, white and blue in preparation for Memorial Day. In the following days, thousands of flags and candles will grace the graves of those who have fallen in service of our country.

For many, Memorial Day has come to mean little more than a 3 day weekend. A welcoming “hurrah” to summer. BBQ-ing with friends, maybe a trip to the lake, or just kicking back at home. A celebration of the freedoms that other men and women from our nation have sacrificed for with their lives. And these freedoms are wonderful things to celebrate!

Memorial Day began in May 1868 as a way to honor those fallen in the Civil War. This continued until after World War I, when it was changed to honor those fallen in any war. It is a day to set aside personal feelings about which side of the war is right or wrong, or whether war is right or wrong, and to remember that the lives that have been lost are real people. Our neighbors, coworkers, friends, and family. Our fellow citizens with hopes and dreams for our future and for the future of our nation.

So this year, take a minute at 3 o’clock (or 15:00, if we go with military 24 hr time) to stop with whatever you are doing and remember those who have died in the service of our nation. In the preservation of the freedoms and privileges that you have every day. Maybe the last person in your family to die in a war passed on in one of the World Wars or Vietnam… or maybe it was much more recent… whichever the case may be, we celebrate that they lived, and honor them for their death.

Our prayers are with those families who are still grieving the loss of a loved one who died in the service of our nation.