Memorial Day exists for one purpose alone: to pay homage to those Americans who died in war serving their country.
Sometimes we may overlook the true thrust of this day. The three-day weekend, the backyard barbecues, the jaunts to the beach or the countryside: We indulge in these pleasures, appreciative of a holiday away from the office, and often forget, I suspect, to pause and recollect those who have laid down their lives for our country over the past 250 years.
Yet their ghosts, should we care to look for them, are all around us. The Pennsylvania volunteer who fell at Gettysburg, the North Carolina aviator shot down fighting for the Escadrille Lafayette in World War I, the Midwestern sailor whose bones lie beneath Pearl Harbor, the Texas Marine at the Chosin Reservoir shot dead in a battle fought at sub-zero temperatures, and the 13 military men and women killed during our recent withdrawal from Afghanistan all speak to us from beyond the grave, whispering antique words such as duty, honor, and country, to be sure, but also murmuring of other sentiments, such as brothers-in-arms, home, and family….