Remembering the Fallen on Memorial Day

Today is Memorial Day in the United States. The holiday commemorates those who have fallen in military service for their countries. Many of you already know all of this.

These types of holidays used to be another day off for me. While I appreciated, in general, what those who had fallen had done for me, I didn't really appreciate in a real meaningful way. Until I became a veteran myself.

(Sidebar: It still feels weird calling myself a veteran.)

Now holidays like this are a time not so much of remembrance, but of a reminding of the present. I remember what others in earlier times have sacrificed and what that means for the present, but more than anything it reminds me of the people on the frontlines today, and those who have fallen in the present.

It reminds me...

Of the urban kid who got out of the ghetto, become proud of himself and led others...

Of the farm girl who had never left her town before joining...

Of the new, young father who never had a chance to see his baby girl...

Of the college kid who joined for benefits that will never get to use them...

Of the mother who left her eighteen-month old son before he was weaned...

Of the parents whose set of kids all joined the same unit at the same time who came back on separate planes...

Of the many nieces and nephews who now where yellow for aunts and uncles that they used to play with...

Of the bank teller who joined for the excitement but who'll never count money again...

Of the teachers, cops, firefighters, and EMTs that served our hometowns and our Nation...

Of the boys and girls who became men and women moments before their lives ended...

Of the retirees who joined again once the Twin Towers fell but who never got to retire for a second time...

Of the communities that sent their best and never got them back...

Of the families who get folded flags rather than hugs from their loved ones...

They deserve being remembered, not as the nameless masses and numbers on TV, but as the individuals that they were. They deserve much more than we'll ever give them or the people in line behind them.

Regardless of whether you agree with the State of the Union, please remember those individual men and women who stand watch in faraway lands or who train and prepare to do the duty that our Nation has called them to do.