This is my fourteenth consecutive Memorial Day message. You can find the
previous thirteen at the end of this one.
I confess I never imagined that I would be writing one in the midst of a
pandemic that caused a near virtual lockdown of the nation. A shutdown from
which, thankfully, we are now beginning to emerge, hopefully, with the American
can-do entrepreneurial spirit as strong as ever.
Memorial Day, foremost, is always about memory. Pausing to remember those
who paid the ultimate price
defending our country and protecting our freedom and the American way of life.
In the past, of
course, I have called to mind the sacrifices of those men and women in our Armed
Forces who died in the service of our country. And I do so again this year, as
always – for we should never forget, as Lincoln declared at Gettysburg:
"That from these honored
dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full
measure of devotion – that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not
have died in vain."
But who can
doubt that this year, on this Memorial Day, we should not also solemnly remember
all the doctors, nurses, physician assistants, other medical personnel – and
all other myriad first responders and essential front-line workers – who have
risked their lives, and in some instances sacrificed them, to secure the
well-being of us all. Like our fallen soldiers, we remember their sacrifice and
honor their memory on this Memorial Day.
In his
Farewell Address, Ronald Reagan reminded us: "If we forget what we did, we won't know who we are. I am warning of an
eradication of that – of the American memory that could result, ultimately, in
an erosion of the American spirit." Despite our political and
philosophical differences, and they provide fodder for meaningful discourse on other
occasions, I continue to hold strongly to a faith in American exceptionalism
and an indomitable American spirit that runs deeper than shades of blue and
red.
A warning
against erosion of the American spirit is never out of place, especially when
America is at war or confronting a challenge like the present one. So, too, a
warning against forgetting those we honor – this year, both all the fallen servicemen
and servicewomen and all those on the front lines of fighting the coronavirus
pandemic who have paid the ultimate price. All Americans owe it to the fallen to
pursue a common goal of now reinvigorating America at this special time in our
nation's history.
I say once
again what Cicero declared over two thousand
years ago: “The life of the dead is placed in the memory of the living."
I wish you and your family the best for a safe, healthy, happy, and
meaningful Memorial Day!
Posts
