HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY!
If you have said that and been scorned for it you can say it here.
Today America stops to honor our fallen soldiers as a grateful nation should.
I am more than happy to have our nation set a special day aside in remembrance of them.
I am happy every one of them was one of ours.
I am happy our nation has been able to rise to every combat challenge because of the type of soldier our American Spirit consistently produces.
Whether volunteered, drafted or forced by circumstance our soldiers have stood up to the duty…..and the tragedies…they found themselves in. They have fought with a courageous fury for our nation, our families and their fellow soldiers beside them.
I am happy it has always been so and still true today.
The private hells they suffer alone or together are to be remembered and respected with the solemn dignity of all.
Let us remember no soldiers lies in fear, suffers from injury or dies alone.
Behind each are families who bear great burdens with them. Too many families are forever altered by the results of war. Too many share physical and emotional damage long after the noise of old battles subsides. Each of these people must also be honored and cherished today because they pay a price too. A wounded soldier left damaged for life is no less of a hero than one buried and beyond the pain living on can be. The demand for their courage and our support can remain throughout their lives.
For myself Memorial Day is a complex experience of mixed emotions and remembering loved ones gone from civilian lives too. In my childhood we visited the cemeteries and decorated all of the family graves, not just the military.
Life is for the living and the celebration of lives well lived, duties fulfilled should be a part of remembrance. We honor our fallen not only for the means of passing but for the great joy and happiness their time here provided to the lives they touched.
We all have happy stories of them helping to offset the sadness of losing them. And those memories should always touch our hearts and bring a smile. We can remember with pride, not pity and depression.
Every person lost had happiness among us which should also be in mind as we honor their time here, they would want it that way.
Today we should all be happy they were ours for awhile. I am.
God Bless those who gave us so much.
