What defines a hero? Every day, we as a society place heroic status on sport icons, rock stars and public figures, but we tend to dismiss the ordinary people in our lives. If it was not for the ordinary people that make the ultimate sacrifice to protect our nation, we would not have our freedom. We would not be able to exercise our freedom of speech or our power to elect leaders. As a society, when we enlist our young men and women and train them for combat, then we turn our heads to them.

We often forget that a soldier started out just like one of us: ordinary citizens of the United States of America. However, These brave individuals have dedicated their lives to protecting our nation. They made the choice to risk everything in order to give me my freedom. It is through their hard work, dedication, and sacrifice that they have earned the status of our heroes. Our gratitude goes above and beyond words.

It has been said that one must die to know the full value of life. Once a soldier walks onto the battlefield he or she has given up any prejudice that they once had. There is no longer an issue of ethnic background, religion , political affiliation, there is now one unit which you serve with your brothers and sisters for an ultimate cause. Every minute, every second a soldier is serving to protect our freedom, a veteran is remembering the fallen brothers and sisters, a mom is morning the loss of her son or daughter, a dad is shedding a tear. So even in our world today as it is cloaked with uncertainty, our brave are sworn in to serve in our military every minute of every day and a hero is born.

Some may ask why? I believe it is our brave, those with courage and those with high values that are making the ultimate sacrifice by serving for our country. To some Memorial Day is the beginning of summer, a vacation day or a celebration day. To me and many others it is a day of remembrance. Take a moment to remember Those who have fallen, the families of those who have made so many sacrifices for us to be able to make choices. Our soldiers, do not get the day off for celebration, these brave men and women make a 24/7 commitment to protect us, Today There are children that are not able to hold their dad's hand today while they watch the parade. There are Fathers that are not celebrating with a barbeque but morning the loss of their son. As many have fallen over the years Our heroes continue to march on in our fight for freedom.

Today we commemorate the heroic individuals that gave their lives for our safety, our security, and most of all our freedom. After all freedom is never free. This is a day full of celebration and joy. A day full of patriotism and pride. This is the day we remember the heroic men and women who have given their lives for their country. Today is the day we honor our fallen veterans.