What Memorial Day means to me.

Memorial Day should be a time of reflection, remembering those who have gone before us, paying the ultimate sacrifice for freedom, their lives. Through the course of the history of America, people have died so that others may be free.

In many far off lands, American’s have laid down their lives so that the spark that makes this country what it is, lives on, passed on to our children, standing the test of time.

Today, our country is engaged in a battle against terrorism, its military standing in places named, Baghdad, Kabul and Kandahar, names from the news, now sacred with the blood and lives of its men and women who have died in the name of freedom.

The war on terrorism is difficult for some to understand, we are not facing an army, we are facing people who hide and kill without thought. We have learned the painful lesson that an airplane can be used as a Weapon of Mass Destruction, taking the lives of thousands in the blink of an eye, destroying a family and changing the landscape of a city forever more.

The war has taught us new terms of death and devastation, like, IED, and Suicide Bomber, we have learned how cowards hidden from view can take the lives of America’s sons and daughters. We learn more every day how a terrorist can kill and the pain and anguish that accompanies each lesson.

The war on terrorism has touched many families, some that will never be the same, this is what we need to remember this weekend, this and phrases like, D-Day, Normandy, Market Garden, The Battle of the Buldge, A Shu Valley, Khe San, the Korean war, and more.

This is what we must reflect upon, this and more, not the marketing nightmare of retail hoping to cash in on a three-day weekend. Teach your children the truth, teach them what freedom means and explain what this country has paid to insure they live free.

I can think of no better prayer than this Memorial Day Prayer, by Rev. Dick Kozelka (ret), which can be found on U.S. Memorial Day History and Information site.