Memorial Day

Memorial Day.

For most people it means a three day weekend, barbeque with friends, watching racing on TV, maybe seeing a ballgame. Trips to the beach, cops cracking down on traffic violations, that's all the kind of stuff that people think about when they think of Memorial Day. They might remember something about it being traditional to fly the flag, but other than a vague recollection of something about wars and veterans they don't know why.

Sales and the end of school. A three day weekend. That is all that Memorial Day is to a large chunk of the American people.

Memorial Day is supposed to be the day on which we honor our fallen warriors. It is a day set aside to honor their ultimate sacrifice. It is a day to remember what their sacrifice was for.

What did they sacrifice for? What was so important that they would willingly and bravely give that last full measure?

An idea.

They sacrificed for an idea.

What idea could be that powerful that men and women would give their very lives to protect it? It is the idea that is the United States.

We are a nation. We are a people. We are the product of the most unique experiment in history.

Sure, our nation is symbolized by two pieces of paper - the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. Our nation is exemplified through its people both great and average. Our history is one of pushing boundaries and always searching for something better, something greater.

But what keeps pushing us? What was it that allowed the creation of those two documents? What has caused us to push ourselves to greatness?

It is the idea behind the nation. It is liberty.

Liberty has been the driving force behind the greatness of our nation.

Liberty has been the idea that so many people have willingly laid down their lives for.

They fought not for individual glory, for loot, or for personal gain. They died not to subjugate or to expand the empire.

They fought to protect the idea. They died for something larger than themselves, for something larger than their nation.

They gave their lives so that we could continue this grand experiment. They died so that we could continue to drink from the fountain of liberty.

Because they sacrificed, we can speak our mind freely. Because they sacrificed, we can sleep soundly at night.

They number in the multi-thousands. Soundly they sleep in the long, quiet slumber of death. Each new battle swells their ranks. They repose knowing that more will join them until the great American experiment of liberty is over. Until then, they understand that sometimes, the price of liberty is paid in blood. Their blood and that of those to come.

The gravestones and markers stand as silent reminders of their sacrifice. Everyday we pass them by without even a second glance. They don't hold it against us. They fought to protect the American way of life. They watch us go about our daily lives and they see why they gave their all.

Hamburgers and beer, NASCAR and the Indy 500, baseball and friends - they're all part of the American Memorial Day. Each, in its own way, honors the sacrifice. Each is a part of the American way of life that has been defended time and time again.

The flag is the most important piece of the Memorial Day puzzle. It is the symbol of our liberty. For many of the dead we honor this weekend, it was their last earthly sight. It was what they died for. The flag is America as everything American is symbolized by the flag.

The flag is important this weekend as a reminder. It is a reminder of why people are willing to sacrifice everything for our nation. It is a reminder of the thousands upon thousands who have already made the sacrifice. It is a reminder of the thousands who stand ready today to do the same.

Fly an American flag this weekend. Honor the dead.

(Learn more about Memorial Day at http://www.usmemorialday.org)