Memorial Day 2012

(Each year I try to speak from my heart about what Memorial Day means to me.  Below, I combined two original posts dated Memorial Day 2009 and 2010 to say what lies in my heart year-round.)

For me, Memorial Day isn't just one day on the calendar; Memorial Day is every single day that I live as a free citizen of the United States of America.

Writing a political blog 5 days a week is part of the reason my mind is often on those who have given their lives for ours. Being at war, is also part of it; It's hard to escape the thought of our men and women serving and dying on foreign and domestic soil as we man the home front enjoying the freedoms they retain. Lastly, and at the forefront of every hour of every day, is our mostly inept elected officials (leaders, they are not). Barry and Crew continue to whittle away the freedoms bought with the blood of our brethren; instead of honoring their contribution, Washington mocks the meaning of their deaths. That they enjoy the freedom to do so, is an irony lost on few.

Even with the challenge of an inept Commander-in-Chief in the arena of war, of the very real possibility that they will endanger their lives, many still volunteer to serve today. They are modern day heroes. They are the face of freedom.

These fine men and women are the main reason I am grateful for those who have served and paid the ultimate sacrifice. It's their spirit of service that supports me when I grow weary with Washington, it's their spirit of perseverance that lifts me when it would be easier to quit, it's their spirit of faith that moves me forward ( SEMPER AVANTI!) when my own fades.

May we remember that our freedom does not come as a result of laying down arms in the face of dread, but by the might and bloodshed of those who value and understand freedom.

I salute you, Patriots past and present. Thank you isn't enough, but I offer it to you with my undying love and deepest gratitude every single day I am free. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

May God Bless you and keep you. 


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Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom, must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it. ~Thomas Paine


It is a great and mighty fatigue. Let us never forget those who have gone before us in the fight. May they have their eternal rest.