Memorial Day 2007

Today is Memorial Day. This is the day that we remember those who paid the ultimate price for our freedom by losing their lives fighting for our country. There will be big and small ceremonies held across the country. At 3pm local time, the Time of Remembrance, we hold a minute of silence, or prayer for some of us, to remember.

Reflections on Memorial Day are as individual as each of us. For some it is family BBQ's or get togethers with friends. For some it is big sales at the shopping center. For some it is attending a memorial service. For a select few it is remembering the son, brother, father, daughter, sister, mother, grandfather, uncle, aunt or friend who will never come home again.

For me, it is trying to remember the face of the young boy I so cared about. I took a rubbing of his name at the Wall in the eighties. I felt the tears fall as I finally said goodbye all those years later.

For me, it is the memory of the holiday spent with the family walking through Punchbowl - the National Cemetery in Hawaii. As we walked, we read the names aloud - calling them from the cold stone into the warm air to caress their essence.

For me, it is walking the roads in Arlington National Cemetery - the long, lenghty roads away from the center of tourism and inhaling the sweet scent of freedom represented so profoundly in the Garden of Stone.

For me, it is the ceremonies I have attended - the small and disorganized to the large and highly orchestrated. They have all served to honor and to respect.

For me, it was an afternoon spent with my Grandpa, walking through a local cemetery looking for graves of veterans and planting a flag in front of them. It is the memory of him, saying, "You must never forget them, you owe them everything."

For me, it is the beautiful faces and wonderful stories I share in this blog.

For me, it is the grieving of the Gold Star members I know. It is also the grieving of the young warriors I know who have lost cherished friends, yet urge us to all stand strong and fight on.

"I miss him. Yes, I still miss him," she wrote to me from Iraq this week. "Please, never forget him. He was my friend. My best friend. He was such a good and funny and kind man. I think I will always miss him. We need to finish this fight for him."

We all have our reflections of this important day. Today, we will attend our local services. We will honor the Time of Reflection. We will probably shed some tears. But, we will come home and see our flag waving proudly and be so thankful that such men lived that were willing to fight and die for us so that we would remain free. God Bless Them All.


Please read below for a speech by Ben Stein and memorial poem from a Gold Star Wife.