Cary, N.C. - Congressman David Price (D-NC) delivered the following remarks as part of a ceremony at Hillcrest Cemetery in Cary commemorating Memorial Day and honoring those who gave their lives in service to our country:

Once again we gather among these memorial stones to pay tribute to the 1.1 million patriots who have given their lives so that our country and its ideals might endure. American Legion Post 67 and the Auxiliary have for 18 years done Cary and surrounding communities a great service by organizing this observance and bringing us all together.

Never underestimate how important it is to do this. An ancient Sioux saying states that "a people without history is like the wind on buffalo grass." We need to pause and remember amid the busy crosscurrents of life, to anchor ourselves, to remember who we are and what had been done for us. This annual observance helps us to remember our history and to reflect on the challenges and obligations it places upon us.

Today I want to reach further back and recall the General Orders that in 1868 inaugurated the first Memorial Day observance:

We should guard the graves (of the "heroic dead") with sacred vigilance. All that the nation can add to their adornment and security is but a fitting tribute to the memory of her slain defenders...

If other eyes grow dull and other hands slack, and other hearts cold in this solemn trust, ours shall keep it well as long as the light and warmth of life remain in us.

So let us resolve today that our eyes shall not grow dull, nor our hands slack, nor our hearts cold. We will remember—as individuals, as families, and as a community. We will remember and we will act on those memories in the ways, large and small, that are open to us: To fulfill our country's obligation to those who have served and sacrificed, and to carry their work forward, giving back to our communities and doing our part to redeem our country's promise.

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