Happy Memorial Day 2014!

Memorial Day 2014 is upon us.  While this unofficial start of summer is sure to be marked by picnics and family gatherings of all sorts across our beautiful Country, the largest number of Americans traveling over this holiday weekend since 2005 serves as a sign that the US economy is strengthening.  It is, however, important to remember that Memorial Day is a national holiday dedicated to those who died in America’s wars.  More than that, it is a day about all those individuals who sacrificed when their Country needed them the most. 

Thanks to advancements in medicine and military technology, the death tolls of the recent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan were actually far lower than what they could have been.  With that in mind, Memorial Day must be about those died in our wars as well as those who survived with less visible scares.  This Memorial Day, I am thinking of people like my recently deceased Great Grandfather and Great Uncle, who both served in the US Army and lived a very long life after their service, as well as all those people I know who are currently serving.  My Great Grandfather is, in fact, a person who I have always looked to as the embodiment of those characteristics that we expect in all our service men and women. 

Dwelling on the heroic deeds of America’s troops, I also find myself contemplating the reasons why we have found ourselves at war.  Whether fighting to save the world from brutal fascist dictators bent on world domination or sharing America’s blood and treasure to uphold the ideals of our International Community in order to uphold peace and prosperity it fosters for all, remembering why people sacrificed is just as important as who did.  All things considered, a simple ‘thank you’ cannot compare to the sacrifice made, but it is one of the few things we can all offer.  Thank you.