Most people are aware that Memorial Day is a day for remembering the sacrifice of Service Members, even if it is not celebrated that way. And most people probably should take a moment to remember and then have their picnics and bar-b-ques. This is perfectly acceptable in my mind.
The value in Memorial Day is for the people who have personally suffered the loss of a service member; For them to know that there is a day set aside where the country remembers, however briefly, that sacrifices were made for them.
For it is not just the dead who have sacrificed.
It takes special people who are willing to spend long periods away from home, on station, to defend our country. And it takes special families to support them. The families are as deserving of remembrance and honor as are the service members themselves. Because when the notification comes that their loved one was killed in action, it is the family left behind that bears the burden: It is the family that carries on and keeps the flame alive.
It is also good for people to remember that their's is a country for which there are those who are willing to make such a sacrifice. And it is good for people to remember that they are not forced to make such a sacrifice if they are not of a mind to.
For one of the great values of an all volunteer service is that it is a measure of the relative value people place on our way of life. So long as we have a sufficient number of people who are willing to do what it takes to become a member of the armed forces or family member of a service person, we still have a country worth dying for. And when that no longer is the case, we'll know we have taken a seriously wrong turn somewhere.
And it is worth remembering on Memorial Day that there are sufficient numbers of people who, of their own free will, chose to spend some of their Memorial Days away from family and friends, on watch, and for whom Memorial Day will mean something a little different than most of America.
There are people for whom Memorial Day has a deeper meaning.
And it is good for people to remember on Memorial Day that there are people who are willing to do what you are not.
That you enjoy your life and your freedom to choose the service member life or not, because of these people who choose to stand guard for you.
Be they dead or alive, they sacrifice for their families and loved ones;
and you are the beneficiaries.
Just remember that.
