Memorial Day is a time to remember the fallen heroes throughout our nation’s history “who gave the last full measure of devotion” so that we can live free.
So this Memorial Day, May 25, 2020—when Americans throughout our country are told by state governments that they are not free to travel, worship in their churches, visit family members, assemble or commemorate Memorial Day by planting a flag on a fallen warriors gravestone—may we highly resolve that our noble dead did not die in vain.
Recall the famous words of Benjamin Franklin:
“Those who would give up essential liberty, to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.”
Freedom is never free. The price for our freedoms was paid for by the men and women we honor this Memorial Day. So, I encourage you and your family on this Memorial Day to take a moment to prayerfully remember those who made that ultimate sacrifice.
Watch this moving tribute to all of our fallen soldiers:
Remember in your prayers our troops deployed in harm’s way. Pray for their families and loved ones as they endure the hardship and all the uncertainty that comes with deployment.
As is tradition, I close this Memorial Day message with a poem by Marine Chaplain Father Dennis Edward O’Brien:
It is the Soldier
It is the soldier, not the reporter,
who has given us freedom of the press.
It is the soldier, not the poet,
who has given us freedom of speech.
It is the soldier, not the campus organizer
who has given us the freedom to demonstrate.
It is the soldier, not the lawyer,
who has given us the right to a fair trial.
It is the soldier, who salutes the flag,
who serves under the flag,
and whose coffin is draped by the flag,
who allows the protester to burn the flag.
God Bless America!
Richard Thompson
President and Chief Counsel of the Thomas More Law Center
P.S. For information on the history of Memorial Day in the United States click here.