Memorial Day

It's Monday, May 31, which is Memorial Day this year. It's a day our country sets aside to remember those who have died in our nation's service. On Wikipedia, I found a chart which shows the casualties in all of the wars which have involved US military, from the American Revolution in 1775 to present day. The numbers are staggering in totality, but it is the loss of just one that is staggering to a family and community.

Pictured here is my paternal grandfather, John, who gave the ultimate sacrifice serving our country in World War II. My dad was just a boy of 9 when he lost his dad. With three young children, his mom remarried and their family grew. Times were hard for a large family, so my pops left his family home at the tender age of 13 to move in with another family who made room for one more at the table. I can only wonder how my dad's life might have been different had his father returned from the war.

A few short years later, my dad went on to serve our country in the Korean War. He was just a lad of 19 or 20 and his new bride was pregnant with their first child. This was long before the days of cell phones and Skype, so contact had to be maintained through letters which were mailed round the world. Thankfully my dad came home intact and has gone on to live a full and happy life.

For many, that is not the case as lives are lost and men and women are wounded, forever altering the course of their lives and that of their families. It is because of these willing and brave people that I am able to enjoy all of the freedoms that come from living in a democracy. In the letter below, which marks the loss of my grandfather, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt eloquently captured what service to our country means for those who are lost. He said:

He stands in the unbroken line of patriots, who have dared to die that freedom might live, and grow, in its blessings. Freedom lives, and through it, he lives--in a way that humbles the undertakings of most men.