Memorial Day is a day of remembrance. It is a day to celebrate the lives and sacrifices of those who have given all to preserve our rights and our freedoms. Set aside some time from the picnics and family outings, and reflect.
… The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. 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 …
Abraham Lincoln
Gettysburg Address
November, 1863
Our comfortable existence has been bought with the blood of patriots; the continuation of that comfortable existence is being paid forward even now, in the blood of a new generation. Yet strangely, this sacrifice is going largely un-remarked:
Lost Heroes of the War on Terror: Gallant Deeds and Untold Tales
Our culture immortalizes show-biz celebrities — shouldn’t we know the names and hear the stories of our nation’s true heroes?
By Jeff Emanuel
PajamasMediaDespite taking place in the Information Age, very few of the heroic exploits of American soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines since September 11, 2001, have made their way into the living rooms of ordinary Americans — at least in any lasting way.
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This disappointing reality is not unique to the current decade. Who, for example, can name the most recent pre-global war on terror (GWOT) recipients of the Congressional Medal of Honor? The names of Randy Shughart and Gary Gordon — two Army special operations sergeants who received the nation’s highest award for their heroic actions in Mogadishu, Somalia, in 1993 — are utterly foreign to the vast majority of the same American population that can name the latest movie star to file for divorce, the latest starlet to have borne a child out of wedlock, or the latest teen sensation to enter alcohol rehab.
Take some time from your busy schedule to reflect on those who have given all for us. Know their names, and their deeds, and to the Lord of Hosts sing Hallelujah.