Memorial Day

When this movie is over, you’ll forget me. The only ones who will remember are us.

– from Gunner Palace

It’s Memorial Day weekend, and as usual, we’re spending it in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada on a motorcycle-riding weekend with our friends.

It’s funny how in small towns, this weekend means more than it does at home in the city, where it’s largely an excuse for a long weekend. They seem to remember things better, for some reason.

One of my personal projects is learning to remember better as well.This weekend is set aside as a holiday to encourage us to remember the simple fact that we have what we have today – freedom, prosperity, hope – because people sacrificed their lives for it.

Today, we are asking people to sacrifice themselves so that our children and the children of others can have those things, and it’s important that we not ignore the harsh reality of that sacrifice and make sure to always ask ourselves whether the things we will gain are worth the cost.

This isn’t the place – the post – for that debate. But it is the place to take a moment and remember what the debate is really about, outside our egos and our politics and words.

It’s about the men and women who gave everything – and those who risked giving everything – for us and ask more than anything that we remember them.

One thought on “Memorial Day”

  1. Still remembering the reaction of “DadManly,”:http://dadmanly.blogspot.com/2005/05/sanctuary.html and Me to Bill Whittles “Sanctuary,”:http://www.ejectejecteject.com/archives/000125.html Which I must have read thru 4 times.

    How much better can you appreciate those that fought for you, than such a good full strength accounting of what we are fighting for.

    May we never put over them again a commander in chief that orders them to don the blue helmet, force on them cultural marxist engineering programs, or violate the covenant that our military are freedoms protectors at home and Liberators abroad.

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