Memorial Day Special Edition

The Foundation

“I love the man that can smile in trouble, that can gather strength from distress, and grow brave by reflection. ‘Tis the business of little minds to shrink; but he whose heart is firm, and whose conscience approves his conduct, will pursue his principles unto death.” –Thomas Paine

Liberty

“As we turn the calendar’s pages to yet another Memorial Day, I feel compelled to issue a … challenge, one I offer not as a clergyman but as an American. Simply, let’s not lose focus about what this most solemn of national holidays should really be about. Too often Americans view the Memorial Day holiday as a pleasant three-day weekend kicking off the summer, perhaps with the year’s first trip to the beach or the lake. We are inclined to think of the Fourth of July as the highlight of the season, with parades and fireworks to renew our nation’s dedication to the principles of liberty. But it’s worth remembering that we are able to celebrate Independence Day only because of the sacrifices made by the men and women whose lives were cut short to advance those principles. Memorial Day is for honoring their supreme sacrifice. But what does that mean? It is not enough simply to bow our heads and note that more than a million men and women have given their lives so that we may be free. That reduces their sacrifice to mere statistics. The challenge for the living is to keep in mind what each of those individual sacrifices represented. Each soldier, sailor, airman, or marine who died in battle left behind loved ones who mourned their deeply personal loss. They were fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, childhood friends, relatives, neighbors, and members of the community. In giving their lives, they left unfulfilled dreams and ambitions to add to their loved ones’ sorrows. That’s a million instances of tremendous personal anguish. … Nothing underscores the importance of liberty as much as the price paid for it. How else to explain the paradox that the price for freedom was so often paid for by those who willingly gave up their own? That sacrifice testifies to the extraordinary power of the ideal of freedom.” –author and pastor Rev. Richard G. Lee

Thank You

“Alone, we stand as the shining beacon of liberty and freedom to the world. The freedoms we enjoy today have not come without a price and are too often taken for granted. Because of the brave men and women – who, from the very start of our nation’s existence, have worn the uniform of all branches of the military so we can live in freedom without fear – we have the freedom to worship as we choose; vote as we choose; travel from one end of this great country to the other; and the opportunity to succeed or fail in pursuing our own individual versions of the American dream. Every American, especially our children, needs to understand and embrace the sacrifices of our soldiers, sailors, airmen, guardsmen, and marines – and most importantly, what their families have endured, all to help preserve the promise of the American dream. At a military cemetery, there is no differentiation of politics, rank, color, or gender – just men and women who had the honor to wear the uniform of the United States of America. For it is at this final resting place that one of our Founding Fathers’ principles, ‘All Men Are Created Equal,’ truly comes to life. … To those of every generation who made that commitment, the commitment to duty, honor, and country, we say: Thank you!” –author Tom Ruck

In Honor of Fallen Patriots

Don’t miss Mark Alexander’s essay on Memorial Day and what it really means.

Also, please view our Patriot Memorial Day Tributes.

Insight

“I have only two men out of my company and 20 out of some other company. We need support, but it is almost suicide to try to get it here as we are swept by machine gun fire and a constant barrage is on us. I have no one on my left and only a few on my right. I will hold.” –1st. Lt. Clifton B. Cates, Navy Cross, 2 Distinguished Service Crosses, (later Commandant), USMC, July 19, 1918 commanding 96 Company, 6th Marines, near the French town of Soissons

“Casualties: many, Percentage of dead: not known, Combat efficiency: we are winning.” –Colonel David M. Shoup, USMC, MOH, (later Commandant) Tarawa, Nov. 21, 1943

“We fight not for glory, nor for riches, nor for honour, but only and alone for Freedom, which no good man lays down but with his life.” –Declaration of Arbroath, Scotland, 1320

“War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things; the decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks nothing worth a war, is worse. A man who has nothing which he cares more about than he does about his personal safety is a miserable creature who has no chance at being free, unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself.” –British philosopher John Stuart Mill

“Our debt to the heroic men and valiant women in the service of our country can never be repaid. They have earned our undying gratitude. America will never forget their sacrifice.” –President Harry S. Truman

“They fought together as brothers-in-arms, they died together, and now they sleep side by side. To them we have a solemn obligation.” –Admiral Chester Nimitz

The American Soldier

“[W]hat sort of soldiers are those you are to lead? Are they reliable? Are they brave? Are they capable of victory? Their story is known to all of you. It is the story of the American man-at-arms. My estimate of him was formed on the battlefield many, many years ago, and has never changed. I regarded him then as I regard him now – as one of the world’s noblest figures, not only as one of the finest military characters, but also as one of the most stainless. His name and fame are the birthright of every American citizen. In his youth and strength, his love and loyalty, he gave all that mortality can give. … [W]hen I think of his patience under adversity, of his courage under fire, and of his modesty in victory, I am filled with an emotion of admiration I cannot put into words. He belongs to history as furnishing one of the greatest examples of successful patriotism. He belongs to posterity as the instructor of future generations in the principles of liberty and freedom. He belongs to the present, to us, by his virtues and by his achievements. In twenty campaigns, on a hundred battlefields, around a thousand campfires, I have witnessed that enduring fortitude, that patriotic self-abnegation, and that invincible determination which have carved his statue in the hearts of his people. From one end of the world to the other he has drained deep the chalice of courage. I do not know the dignity of their birth, but I do know the glory of their death. They died unquestioning, uncomplaining, with faith in their hearts, and on their lips the hope that we would go on to victory. Always for them: Duty, Honor, County; always their blood and sweat and tears, as we sought the way and the light and the truth.” –General Douglas MacArthur

The Gipper

“Here, in this place where the West held together, let us make a vow to our dead. Let us show them by our actions that we understand what they died for. Let our actions say to them the words for which [General] Matthew Ridgway listened: ‘I will not fail thee nor forsake thee.’ Strengthened by their courage and heartened by their valor and borne by their memory, let us continue to stand for the ideals for which they lived and died.” –President Ronald Reagan, 40th anniversary of D-Day, Pointe du Hoc, Normandy, France, June 6, 1984

The Last Word

“Lord, guard and guide the men who fly
And those who on the ocean ply;
Be with our troops upon the land,
And all who for their country stand:
Be with these guardians day and night

And may their trust be in Thy might.” –Author Unknown, 1955

Semper Vigilo, Fortis, Paratus et Fidelis!
The Patriot Post Editorial Team