Memorial Day From a Soldier's World

In the midst of all the smoke from the grills and the sea of cupcakes, lies the spirit of sacrifice. In the hearts of the old that have seen figures like President Nixon and President Johnson on that old RCA colored TV also lies MEMORIES. Our nation has been shaped and forged on memories of our past efforts to sustain the gates of peace.

Above my desk I have a small piece of paper that holds the words Candor, Commitment, Competence and Courage. Next to each is the definition, and to whom the definitions belong I have no clue, but he/she must have been a soldier.

COURAGE: If fear is not the quality of a brave man, I know not of any such man. For it is he who strives forward in spite his fear that is accounted as brave.

Back to memories, and what the Memorial Day holiday means to me as a soldier.  Well it is truly summed up in the word Memory. I remember many things that I have witnessed, experienced in my 20 plus years in the armed forces. Many I would like to forget but cannot, and many I wish to remember always, but will not.

It is the memory of what freedom cost, and those who paid the debt. Freedoms debt is much like that credit card with the high interest rate. When you pay the minimum, the balance is always high and keeps mounding up. It is only when you pay the heavy price that the debt of freedom is impacted. Sounds crazy but the debt will always be there.  And be certain of this, the wolf is always howling at the door waiting to take our freedom away.

So on Monday when we see the floats go by in the parade, and you see the old guy with the hat full of pins moving ever so slowly by with his cane in hand. I challenge you to think of the portion of the debt he paid. Maybe he is remembering someone today that was on his left or his right. You see that is what Memorial Day is to me, it is memories, of the faces of those I knew who made a payment towards our debt for freedom sake. That is why freedom is so precious, and valued.

Yet there are those white crosses lined in a row that remind us of the ultimate payment. As you may have noticed already that I keep referring to our freedom as requiring a debt.

I remember when I was a Private in front of our chow hall was a sign: FREEDOM IS NOT FREE. Freedom has no 90-day trial offers or one year free plans. It requires that the lives of our nation’s sons and daughters be put on the line. That is what makes our nation so great and that’s what makes Memorial Day so memorable.

In closing, I remember an old cadence it went like this. Ooooh Soldier, Combat Soldier, where have you been? I’ve been to Gettysburg; I’ve been to Luxemburg, fighting for freedom, dying for liberty.

Wave that Flag ever so high, salute the vet as he passes by. Remember the dusk, remember the dawn, remember those who gave their lives so we can carry on. The price of freedom is a debt never satisfied, the sum of our greatness is truly in its price.