Mem-orial Day is the traditional time when you’ll find editorials penned by all and sundry telling you to support our men and women in uniform, because without them we wouldn’t have a free country with a free press in which to express the sentiment.
And they are of course right, every single one of them.
While it might be trite to say so over the holiday, and though you’ve been asked many times to stop and think about the sacrifices made by those who gave their all that we might live free, I’m going to do that just one more time.
Why? Not the least because these men and women deserve your respect, your thanks, and your prayers. But mostly because that, even with the high profile that this holiday brings to the brave men and women of the armed forces, all too often it falls on deaf ears.
Look around you. Look at your home, your car, your job. Look at your children, your parents. Look at your church, your friends, and all the good things in your life that you hold dear.
Now take them all away.
Can you imagine living in a country with no freedoms? Can you imagine giving up your family home? Can you conceive of life without the family that lives there?
Probably not. Such a radical change in your life would leave you a drastically different person.
So there’s another thought to bear in mind as we raise flags and offer prayers throughout the country on Memorial Day: without our finest giving their lives for each and every one of us, the persons we know ourselves to be would not exist. Our lives, our very selves, would be gone like the smoke blowing from the battlefields of Europe, of southeast Asia, and of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.
We owe them all, each of us, more than we can ever say.
When the time comes to observe a moment of silence for them, do more than doff your cap. Give a genuine thought to what they have done for you and yours. Consider a donation to a veteran’s organization. Contemplate the names on The Wall.
If you have a heart, show it.

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