Memorial Day 2009

Abraham Lincoln once said,


Character is like a tree and reputation like a shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing.


Tomorrow is Memorial Day.


It is a day in which we remember and celebrate the men and woman who fought and died in the service of the United States.


Over the past 235 years, more than 35 million men and women have answered the call to arms for our country. Many of them never came home. Some died in battle, others in captivity; all died too soon.


It is altogether appropriate and proper that we honor them; that we


remember all those who have died for the cause of freedom.


Recent military action in Afghanistan and Iraq has offered a


fresh reminders of the human reality of war:


ordinary men and women leaving their homes and families and all they know, to risk their lives for an


ideal of honor and duty, or just to protect the soldier next to them.


People of patriotism and good will may debate the


merits of any given war, police action, or humanitarian mission.


But there should be no debate about our debt to the hundreds of thousands of our brothers and sisters, sons and daughters, Fathers and Mothers


who have given the ultimate sacrifice of their lives by answering our nation's call to service.


Memorial Day is more than the opening of the pool and start of summer.


It is a chance to pause and remember the sacrifices --


to remember the gallant and brave --


to remember the fallen.


May we be faithful to the legacy of those who gave the last full measure of devotion,


so that liberty and freedom may prevail.