As we approach Memorial Day, a day instituted inhonor of those who died for this country, we should take time to pause and reflect on what this holiday truly means and remember all of those who gave their lives for our nation.
As we spend time with friends and family grilling, playing games, and spending time around campfires and in family kitchens, we should take the time to steer our conversations with one another—even if briefly—toward our family, community members, and others who gave their lives in the service of this nation and for the sake of freedom around the world.
It seems like an overplayed and cliché phrase, but it’s true: “Freedom isn’t free.” The freedoms we enjoy today as American citizens were bought and paid for by men and women who gave the ultimate sacrifice for our nation. It is important to take time to remember this fact.
There are those who gave their minds for this nation too. They struggled with mental health or substance abuse after what they experienced during their service and took their own lives; they deserve to be remembered too. Their lives and sacrifice deserve to be honored as well. They gave everything for this nation, we should never forget.
There are those that we often neglect to remember on this day as well: the mothers, fathers, daughters, sons, husbands, and other family members of service members who died. When the ultimate sacrifice is made, there are so many others that are forever affected by that loss. Those people carry the pain, sorrow, pride, and memories surrounding the life and death of their loved one. They have cried silent tears, made countless visits to cemeteries, shared stories with their children, and had to learn to cope with the loss.
Memorial Day should be a day that we pause, pick up, and carry those emotions and memories with those living family members of deceased service men and women. Take time to thank them for their sacrifice for this nation as well, because they have had to pick up the pieces of their loss and carry on with their lives in the absence of their loved one.
This Memorial Day we pause to remember those who died in service to this nation. We should honor their memories and deaths by holding dear the very things they died for: love for our fellow countrymen and women, our nation, and upholding the values of freedom enshrined within the Constitution of the United States of America.
Never forget.
Delegate Elliott Pritt, Republican
Assistant Majority Leader
West Virginia House of Delegates District 50 (Fayette)
United States Air Force Veteran (SSgt.)
*If you know of a Veteran who is struggling with depression or suicidal thoughts, please direct them to the Veterans’ Crisis Line by dialing the number “988”. Step in and encourage them to get help. They deserve it, and their sacrifices matter too.*
