This past Monday, May 30 was the holiday that Americans from all across the nation look forward to: Memorial Day. To most, it is the annual celebration of one less day to go to work while enjoying the festivities of a barbecue surrounded by the camaraderie of friends and family.

But what about to those who cannot enjoy such festivities because they gave up everything so we could? What about the families who cannot enjoy this day because they have lost loved ones to the cruel mistress of war at home and abroad? Where is their opportunity for celebration? No American should have to be reminded the true meaning of Memorial Day. Without the brave men and women who continue to unhesitatingly follow the American tradition of taking up arms in the defense of “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” here in these United States, what other reason is there to honor such a deserving moment of remembrance? To me, the very phrase “Memorial Day” is a symbol of respect and gratitude to all of America’s uniformed heroes who have made it possible for both their generation and the generations after to enjoy their civil liberties in a nation unmatched by anywhere else in the world.

Winston Churchill, while reviewing the pilot crews of the Royal Air Force who helped save Britain from invasion by Nazi Germany, remarked, “Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.” Though his words were spoken at a different time in history from many years ago, Churchill’s tribute to the standing and fallen warriors who fought to protect their country is something which holds true even in this day and age. The American combatant, no matter what branch of service they devote themselves to, has been the driving force of why the United States has to this day remained the face, heart, and stomach of modern democracy. In doing so, however, every American serviceman has had to go through hell and back. In the last 240 years since her independence, the United States has owed so much to the sacrifices of their unsung heroes. Such hardships endured by America’s veterans have lasted the test of time: from the fight for separation during the Revolution to struggle for reunification during the Civil War, through the battle “to make the world safe for democracy” during both World Wars, and from the mountains of Korea and jungles of Vietnam to the deserts of Iraq and Afghanistan.

The word “memorial” in “Memorial Day” should be a given to those who forget what the holiday is all about. To me, Memorial Day is a day of formal recognition of those no longer with us who ensured that their courageous actions, at whatever cost, would allow their country and countrymen to have another day of peace and prosperity. To the families of loved ones who have given their life in military service, Memorial Day should not be a day of grief and loss; in the words of General George Patton, “It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather we should thank God that such men lived.” To me, Memorial Day is also a time to remember the strong sense of duty and loyalty to country that inspired every veteran before us to answer Uncle Sam’s call in the hour of war.

However, I think it was Abraham Lincoln who said it best when delivering his famous Gettysburg Address. “It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us---that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion---that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”