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The days that honor our military – Memorial Day, Veterans Day, Armed Forces Day – serve an important purpose. In our daily routines, we too often get consumed with our jobs, with our chores, and with running from appointment to appointment. As a result, we can fall into the trap of taking our freedoms for granted. And we don’t think enough about the heavy price that has been paid by our military to protect those freedoms.
But on Memorial Day, we are forced to forget about our daily routines. On Memorial Day, we are able to hit the “pause” button on our lives. We can then reflect on the sacrifices made by the long list of men and women who have defended our freedoms.
As we remember our fallen heroes, however, we should be careful about one thing. Memorial Day is not a mournful day. Rather, it is a day that should evoke a quiet, yet powerful, pride in our military men and women who have made the ultimate sacrifice. For the life of a fallen soldier is a life well-lived.
Memorial Day serves as a day of remembrance for these fallen soldiers. These heroes served the nation on the fields of Gettysburg, on the islands of the South Pacific, and in the jungles of Vietnam. These heroes served the nation as the United States military helped bring the warm light of freedom to the people of South Korea, Kuwait, and Afghanistan. They have also served bravely in Iraq. It is the service of our military that has worked to bring peace to these once war-torn countries. Some may think that the concept of a military being the cause of peace is contradictory. I disagree.
Last week, the Prime Minister of Israel – Ehud Olmert – visited the United States. Prime Minister Olmert is the head of a nation that understands all too well the cost of freedom and security. Like our nation, Israel is a democracy that is the target of Muslim extremists. But unlike our country, Israel does not have vast oceans to protect her, nor does she have friendly neighbors on her borders. While in Washington, Prime Minister Olmert gave an address before both houses of Congress. During the speech, he stated that “Peace without security, will bring neither peace nor security.” That statement has remained on my mind since I heard it last Wednesday.
A great deal of wisdom lies in the nine words of that statement. Those nine words reflect the hard and ugly truth that peace is neither easy to achieve, nor easy to keep. Peace requires security. And security comes with a price. Some of those prices are monetary. In Washington, the House recently passed legislation that increases military salaries and provides funding for better armor and other force protection measures. We have also passed legislation that increases funding for veterans’ medical care. Veterans have stepped forward to protect America, and America owes them the best medical care we can provide. These are prices that are easy to pay. But security requires other types of prices as well. These prices are more difficult to pay. And they do not come with dollar signs. These prices come with names: the names of the men and women who have laid down their lives to preserve our freedom.
So on this Memorial Day and in the days ahead, let us remember the men and women who fought and died for our freedom. But let us do so, not in a mournful way, but in prideful way. For they have paid the full price for our peace and security. For, indeed, theirs are lives well-lived, and the United States a nation well-served.
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