What Is a Memorial Day?
- Josh Fuller
- May 23
- 2 min read
As a grandson of a WW2 navy pilot who also served as a refueling plane (KC-137) pilot in the Korean war, I've been trying to configure the real meaning of Memorial Day. While my grandfather survived both wars, so many have not. And yet so many people have tried to destroy the real reason for our freedom, there are so many fine and courageous men that are forgotten.
Yet day and night, these brave souls rest in Arlington National Cemetery. A solemn and sobering field that is filled with many honorable men who have been awarded the Silver Star, Medals of Honor, Purple Hearts and Navy Crosses. A field that is painted in red. Not by paint - by blood no one else had the right to spill. That`s the hue of Arlington National Cemetery.
We should be forever grateful for the incredible men whose very gallant examples of the beautiful thing that we true Americans call heroism. They died on the beaches of Normandy, bled red, white and blue in the skies of Europe, while facing a tyrant in Vietnam. They gave up their lives valiantly in Iraq and Afghanistan, facing stiff opposition in Baghdad and Ramadi. They gave up their lives trying to save a wounded brother, who was fighting evil in Fallujah.
This we do that others may live, isn't just a slogan to be thrown around by those who will never earn that right.
Of those thousands of soldiers, Marines and pararescue guys that have earned the right to be called brothers, some of them have given everything for a brother in battle.
We owe them an unpayable debt of gratitude and thankfulness.
We owe them a spot in our prayers during Thanksgiving
When you see a veteran, thank them
Navy Seal Jocko Willink has several videos and podcasts out about sacrifice and the real cost.
So, what is a Memorial Day?
It definitely isn't just a day to have fun, but it is a day that should be in the front lines of our minds. Those big box sales pitches and all, those are an illegal smoke screen to the reality of war and freedom. You don`t want to wake up one day and realize everything you took for granted, is gone. Freedom, hard work, and sacrifice make our freedom possible, but giving that up would be a slap in the face of every veteran and fallen warrior. We need to keep in our minds what President Reagan said; we are only one generation away from losing our freedoms.
Link Below is a speech by President Reagan:
So what is the real cost of Memorial Day?
It's men and women who gave everything for this beautiful thing we call freedom, the Constitution, and our very Faith in God. It is the men and women in the pararescue helicopter bleeding out, it is the disabled veteran in the grocery store. The real cost is the 22 veterans a day that take their own lives. We see them, but even fewer see the war they fought and the brothers they lost.
Link Below is the cost of freedom in the battles at home:
John 15:13:
"Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one's life for one's friends."
I like the airt behind the pictures that the camera man capters.