5-23-25

We are entering into the Memorial Day weekend and I want to stress how

important it is that we always remember, and never forget….those words may

sound synonymous but they really aren’t……to “always remember” implies that

something from the back of the mind needs to be brought forward…to “always

remember” is an intentional thing….you do it on purpose….you bring it up

because you mean to…...to “never forget” means that we don’t let it go…..to

“never forget” means that we hold onto something…..it’s special, it will be with

us……and this weekend is designed as a time of memory…..a time when we do

both of those things…..we always remember, and we never forget……we

memorialize our fallen and give them honor, acknowledge their sacrifice, and we

ensure that we as individuals, as communities, as states and as a nation, endeavor

to always remember….to bring those honorable sacrifices to the front of our

minds…..and to never forget…..to determine as a people that we will not let go of

the understanding that we are made free by those sacrifices…….

I don’t know if you’ve ever been to a funeral at Arlington National Cemetery…..I

have, and it is humbling……if you’ve never been to Arlington Cemetery you should

make it a point to do so……the fields of perfectly spaced white headstones in

perfectly manicured grounds are interspersed with occasional tombs and

trees…..it is everything that a deceased military member should have to honor

their passing……the funeral I attended was for a Special Forces soldier…..the flag

draped casket was moved to the gravesite by a horse drawn caisson….the family

was gathered…..a firing party delivered the rifle volley…..a bugler just off in the

near distance played taps…..the casket team folded the flag with precision….and

on behalf of a grateful nation the folded flag was presented to the next of kin……

it seemed like a holy moment, like speaking above a whisper would have been

disrespectful…..

Equally pressing is the ceremony that is held by the troops at the field of battle

when they have lost one of their own……I’ve been there too…..and it sticks with

you……I will never forget having a friendly conversation with young cavalry first

lieutenant named Erik McRae…..we sat next to each other on the FOB in central

Baghdad shooting the breeze in early June during a down moment…….I asked him

about himself, where he was from, what he did back home……he was a good kid

from Oregon who had married his young sweetheart just a couple of weeks

before he deployed……an All-American boy-next-door kind of guy who was just 25

years old that day in Baghdad…..the very next day after our visit he was gone…..

June 4, just over a week from now will mark 21 years to the day that Erik McRae,

and two of his men….. Specialists Justin Eyerley and Justin Linden were killed in a

coordinated attack in central Baghdad by a combination of IED strikes and small

arms fire…..as his patrol of gun trucks was hit by the first IED 1LT McRae jumped

out of his own uparmored Humvee, gave immediate directions to his Platoon, and

ran forward to the Eyerly and Linden whose vehicle had been hit by the

explosion….that’s when the enemy detonated the secondary explosion and kicked

off the firefight with small arms and RPG’s……We lost all three men that

day…..and days later we had the ceremony at FOB Volunteer…..it was marked by

their boots on a pedestal…..in front of their rifles with bayonets fixed and pointed

down, their dog tags hanging from the pistol grips, with their helmets, or in

McRae’s case his Cavalry Stetson, sitting on top…..and we honored them…..we

honored who they were but we also honored and remembered what they did,

and why they did it……honor can be coupled with memorial……it is a reasonable

combination of things…..honor and memorial…..especially given the sacrifices that

they made…..sacrifices that we built this nation upon…..It has been 21 years since

then, but I plan to always remember and never forget…..

Arlington, and other cemeteries throughout America, are where the accounts are

kept…..they are where we keep the ledger of what it takes to be a free nation…..

Freedom is not something to be taken lightly……freedom is far too often just that

somewhat esoteric thing that seems nebulous, or ethereal, like you can almost

touch it but not quite……but the day that you don’t have it you are suddenly

keenly aware of it……too easily taken for granted, too easily forgotten, but never

easily gained….. never easily gained…….freedom, in fact, is the most expensive

commodity known to man…..more than any precious metal, or earthly

possession……freedom is that thing that should equal for our existence to air,

water, and food as one of the essentials of life……and it is costly because it is paid

for by the blood, and sweat, and labor of men and women……and constantly

refreshed and kept viable by nearly every generation…….I asked my father once if

he ever thought that I would go to war and I will always remember his response,

he said, “Son, there has never been an American generation without a war”…….it’s

just a fact…..and this Memorial Day it is important that we pause in the midst of

our time off, and cooking hot dogs on the grill, or hanging out at the lake, or just

enjoying a day away from our usual routines….and take stock of the reason why

the day exists…..and those it was designed to honor…..

What we now call Memorial Day was originally known as Decoration Day and

became an officially acknowledged event in May 1868 to honor the war dead

from the Civil War……General John Logan proclaimed it in his General Order no.

11 and said, “The 30th of May, 1868, is designated for the purpose of strewing

with flowers, or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense

of their country during the late rebellion, and whose bodies now lie in almost every

city, village and hamlet churchyard in the land”……On that first official

“Decoration Day” 5,000 participants decorated the graves of thousands soldiers

buried at Arlington Cemetery….Then Congressman, and future President, James

Garfield gave a speech to the crowd that day in which he said, “I am oppressed

with a sense of the impropriety of uttering words on this occasion," he added, "If

silence is ever golden, it must be here beside the graves of fifteen thousand men,

whose lives were more significant than speech, and whose death was a poem, the

music of which can never be sung”……It grew from there and in the early 1900’s

the graves of WWI veterans were added to the day of decoration…and with each

war….as the cost of freedom was refinanced again and again….more and more

graves became a part of the solemn celebration…...in 1971 Congress passed the

National Holiday Act and the last day of May officially became Memorial Day…..

Ronald Reagan once gave a speech at Arlington Cemetery on Memorial Day in

1982…..he said then, “The United States and the freedom for which it stands, the

freedom for which they died, must endure and prosper. Their lives remind us that

freedom is not bought cheaply. It has a cost; it imposes a burden. And just as they

whom we commemorate were willing to sacrifice, so too must we—in a less final,

less heroic way—be willing to give of ourselves."

So my hope is that this weekend you will have a wonderful time with family and

friends….perhaps get a little rest….sleep a bit later than usual…..eat some hot

dogs and have a beer…..but somewhere in there take a second, pause, and

remember why you have that day off……tell your kids and grandkids……even if

you don’t have a military connection in your own life it does not mean for a

second that you cannot appreciate the freedom…..actual freedom…..that you

enjoy here in the greatest nation on the earth…..remind yourself that freedom is

not free, and that men and women have gone before us to ensure that freedom

remains dynamic, and not static……and if you served yourself then remember

your brothers-in-arms who served with you…..and for those who didn’t come

home do them the honor of being intentional to always remember, and never

forget.

And that’s a wrap for the Rightside Way!