Thomas Jefferson said: "The God who gave us life, gave us liberty at the same time."

God also gave us men and women who would lay down their lives to fortify liberty. I’m speaking of the Janes and Johnnys who did not come marching home...to whom this page is dedicated. 

You probably know one of those special Americans we remember on Memorial Day. May the peace of God escort all of us through the solemn chore of decorating their graves on this solemn holiday.

We, as Americans, have honored our war dead since Civil War times, when the occasion was known as "Decoration Day."  Gen. James A. Garfield was the main speaker at the first national Memorial Day observance in 1868. Garfield, who would be elected president in 1880, said: “We do not know one promise these men made, one pledge they gave, one word they spoke; but we do know they summed up and perfected, by one supreme act, the highest virtues of men and citizens. For love of country, they accepted death, and thus resolved all doubts, and made immortal their patriotism and virtue.”

I want to take those stirring words a step further. I’d like to believe the men and women we remember today immortalized more than their patriotism. They immortalized the principle that freedom is essential to the human condition. So vital is freedom that men and women would die to preserve it -- not only for themselves, but for others.

We owe an unpayable debt of gratitude to those who died so that others may be free.

Our fallen patriots gave everything they had ... to extend freedom beyond the reach of our eyesight. They helped to make America a relatively safe haven in a troubled globe. They stood in harm’s way, used their lives as liberty’s shield, and helped to pry nations from the grip of despotism.

Let there be one unwavering truth about the sacrifice of our war dead. Insofar as their sacrifice was for freedom, it was not in vain. For freedom is the natural state of God’s children.

Freedom conducts the ambitions of humankind to a peaceful and prosperous destiny. And, freedom nurtures the pursuit of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness ... not only here in the United States, but everywhere. 

Despite these unshakable facts, enemies of freedom repeatedly tested our resolve and summoned our sons and daughters ... our brothers and sisters ...our aunts and uncles...our cousins...our friends....and, our next-door neighbors to the front lines of battle. They performed admirably in World War I and World War II ... Korea ... Vietnam ... Lebanon ... Panama ... Grenada ... the Persian Gulf -- and today in Yugoslavia.

But, more than a million of them fell in military service. Never to rise again. White, marble headstones mark the final resting places of the best America had to offer. We knew them. We loved them. We miss them.

To honor and remember them today and to forget about their sacrifice tomorrow is an unpardonable sin! We must honor our fallen comrades not only by acknowledging their sacrifice on Memorial Day...but by serving every day as model citizens of the America for which they sacrificed.

In their lives, the men and women we remember today were once just like you and me. They feared one circumstance more than they feared meeting their Eternal Father in the springtime of their lives- - - they feared that they would fail their comrades in arms; that their courage would be found wanting in the heat of battle.

Memorial Day is not only about remembering the men and women who made the Supreme sacrifice while defending the American way. It’s about acknowledging and protecting the ideals they died for; so that their sacrifice shall be not in vain. 

The American soldier triumphs in the preservation of freedom. Similarly, patriotic Americans -- such as you and I -- must prevail in the preservation of the values our patriots died for.

If our fallen comrades are looking down from Heaven, they are proud of us for honoring their memory with a commitment to the noblest of ideals............... A commitment to uphold the highest virtues of humankind -- freedom, justice and equality................ A commitment to strengthening our national adherence to values nourished by their blood.

Let us remember our deceased patriots in our prayers -- today and every day. Comfort the loved ones they left behind. And, fly the United States Flag in their honor -- at home ... at work ... and throughout our neighborhoods ! 

Remember...they gave the supreme sacrifice so that you and I could be 'free' today. We owe them....

God bless you ----God bless our fallen comrades.