So, it's Memorial Day

As I understand it, today is the day to stop and remember the brave souls who have in the defense of this nation and it’s freedoms, given their lives in the ultimate sacrifice so that you and I may enjoy those freedoms.

For many, this weekend has meant backyard barbeques, baseball games, picnics in the park, boating, and of course, the Indianapolis 500 car race. It’s the official kick-off to the summer season, where we look ahead to the warmth and good times and try to forget about the cold, and the doom and gloom of the winter months.

I would hope that most of us stop and think about the sacrifices that young men and women have made over the course of the past 200 plus years. And while we watch the war movies that portray the famous battles fought, and hear Tom Brokaw tell us about the ‘Greatest Generation,’ that saved us from defeat at the hands of Germany and Japan, I would hope that we also think about the past generations who were also great, and who molded this country into what it is today.

To single out a generation as being the greatest, to me, does disservice to those whose sacrifice was no less brave. Was the generation of ‘GI’s’ really any more great than the generation of ‘dough boys’ of World War I? Were the veterans of the Vietnam era any less great than the generations that came before? Or was it that their war was less popular than the wars that came before?

Throughout the course of this country’s history there has been wars. All who have served in harms way have sacrificed. All who have died have given the ultimate sacrifice. To say that one-generation of sacrifice was greater than another belittles the bravery and sacrifice of the ones who passed before.

America’s involvement in wars is as long as our country’s history, but in only one war did brother fight against brother, brother against uncle. The American Civil War pitted American against American in what is still America’s bloodiest, most costly war. In terms of killed and wounded, it dwarfs the casualty figures of any other American war. Talk about a great generation.

For me though, it’s not just about the veterans, that there is a Veteran’s Day. No, this is also about remembering the loved ones who are no longer with us. These departed souls, our moms, dads, brothers, sisters, uncles, aunts, dogs, cats; we should all take a moment to remember them. To remember how much they loved us, and we, them. Wherever you may be, take a moment and say a prayer. Visit a passed loved on if you can. Let them know that they haven’t been forgotten, and that on this Memorial Day, we remember. We will always remember.