A Memorial Day to Remember

A Memorial Day to Remember
by Doug Patton

This Memorial Day, I will remember the 4,435 Americans who died revolting against the tyranny of King George in the Revolutionary War.

I will remember the 2,260 Americans who died fighting the British again in the War of 1812.

I will remember the 13,283 Americans who died in the Mexican War.

I will remember the 558,052 Americans, on both sides, who died in our bloodiest conflict, the Civil War.

I will remember the 2,246 Americans who died in the Spanish-American War.

I will remember the 116,708 Americans who died fighting German aggression in World War I.

I will remember the 407,316 Americans who died defeating fascism in Europe and imperialism in the Pacific during World War II.

I will remember the 33,651 Americans who died battling North Korea.

I will remember the 58,168 Americans who died in Vietnam, including my best friend from high school, killed by a sniper in June 1968 at the tender age of 20.

I will remember the 293 Americans who died driving Saddam Hussein out of Kuwait during the Gulf War.

I will remember the 2,460 Americans who have died liberating Iraq.

I will remember the simple words carved in stone at the Korean War Memorial on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.: "Freedom isn't free."

I will remember those who have paid the price for that freedom, which I so often take for granted.

I will remember that courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the willingness to act decisively in spite of fear.

I will remember that there have always been far more tyrants than freely elected statesmen, and that brave Americans have had to pay the ultimate price to preserve liberty throughout our nation's history.

I will remember that the United States of America has always been a fragile experiment defended by ordinary men called upon to do extraordinary things in times of great peril.

Last year the long awaited World War II Memorial was dedicated in Washington, D.C. It was a long time coming, and many who served in that epic struggle are no longer here to see it. In fact, we are now losing the members of that generation, most of whom are now in their 80s, at a rate of more than 1,000 per day.

There was never any adequate way for us to thank them for what they did; they never expected that we should. They simply did what destiny called them to do, and when it was finished, those who survived returned home to resume their lives and stoically cope with the horrors they had seen.

This Memorial Day, I will remember that even as the free nations of the world could have lost World War II, without the will to be victorious, America could still lose the worldwide war on terror.

As always, this year I will commemorate the sacrifice of my grandfather and my father, who served in world wars I and II, respectively. They are now buried next to their beloved wives in a small cemetery on a hilltop surrounded by rolling farmland in Montgomery County in Southwest Iowa.

I will remember their service, and the noble lives they led after
returning home. I will remember that they helped to preserve a legacy of freedom and opportunity for those of us who came after them.

This Memorial Day I will remember those who sacrificed to protect my God-given rights.

Doug Patton is a freelance columnist who has served as a speechwriter and policy advisor for federal and state candidates.