Memorial Day 2013

I know I haven't posted anything in quite some time.  My time has been consumed elsewhere, but I find I often think, "I should write about that and post it on the blog".  Hopefully I will find more time to do so.

Today being Memorial Day, my mind has really been on our service men and women.  I know that Memorial Day is a day to honor those who have given their lives for our country, but I find that I also think a lot about our active duty service members as well.

I was thinking today about just how many men have laid down their lives for our country.  I started adding with the Revolutionary War and ended with the current numbers for Afghanistan.  The number was staggering.  It really made me sit back and think.  That number represents a significant loss of life. In the case of World War II, a quarter of that generation was lost!

I am also reminded that our Armed Forces are volunteer.  Yes, we have had drafts in the past.  However, generally speaking, we have a volunteer Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines.  To think that there are men and women who love our country enough to willingly die makes me appreciate their sacrifice even more.  These people chose to put themselves in harm's way.  That is something I can't ignore.

When I complain about something happening in the political arena without fear that I'll be thrown into jail; when I worship in my chosen house of worship without fear that I'll be killed for believing as I do; when I move about my hometown freely at any time of the day or night with no fear that I'll be stopped and/or detained....I can't help but think of those who have made all of this possible for me.  I live comfortably because they chose to live in discomfort.  They chose to leave their families, miss holidays, miss births and graduations, miss funerals and weddings all so we never have to miss these things.  They are on foreign soil facing our enemies so we don't have the fight here at home.  And many of them have died.  Many more will die.  Yet, they go. 

So, before you take Memorial Day for granted and think it's just an extra paid day off of work, think about what it really means.  When you're having your cookout and watching your kids run around the yard playing, laughing and just enjoying life, think about why it is you're enjoying this moment.  When you're enjoying the beach, picture for just a moment, just one person who has made the ultimate sacrifice.  Many people died so you could live comfortably.  They chose to put themselves in harm's way knowing they may die.  Remember that.

No, Freedom Isn't Free
CDR Kelly Strong, USCG (ret)

I watched the flag pass by one day.
It fluttered in the breeze.
A young Marine saluted it,
And then he stood at ease.
I looked at him in uniform
So young, so tall, so proud,
With hair cut square and eyes alert
He'd stand out in any crowd.
I thought how many men like him
Had fallen through the years.
How many died on foreign soil?
How many mothers' tears?
How many pilots' planes shot down?
How many died at sea?
How many foxholes were soldiers' graves?
No, freedom isn't free.

I heard the sound of taps one night,
When everything was still
I listened to the bugler play
And felt a sudden chill.
I wondered just how many times
That taps had meant "Amen,"
When a flag had draped a coffin
Of a brother or a friend.
I thought of all the children,
Of the mothers and the wives,
Of fathers, sons and husbands
With interrupted lives.
I thought about a graveyard
At the bottom of the sea
Of unmarked graves in Arlington.
No, freedom isn't free.