Honor and Rememberance on Memorial Day

I listened yesterday to the Memorial Day tributes and talks and I came away with a sense of sadness. The majority of the speakers and interviewee's spoke of the deaths of our service men and women as the reason we have freedom and liberty and I ask how can that be. Their deaths to be sure are the price of keeping that freedom but they are not what that freedom is. We have freedom and liberty only so long as we participate in our government and communities.

How can we say we are free when less than 30% of the registered voters even bother to vote in the primary elections. How can we say we are free when 66% is considered a great turnout in the general election. Did we fight and die to guarantee the benefits of freedom and liberty to so few? How many of us can even be bothered to go to a rally for something we say we really believe in? How many of us would even consider running for elected office at the most basic local level?

We say we honor and remember our fallen hero's on Memorial Day and remember them we do but we need to do more to honor their sacrifice. We need to run for elected office. We need to serve on a local board or commission. Volunteer at the Veteran's Home or nursing home. Become a volunteer firefighter or EMT. Be a police volunteer. Go to a rally for something you really believe in and carry a sign with your message. Vote. We all need to vote in each and every election. Only by voting can we insure our freedom and liberty will live on in strength as a beacon to all the world. Only then will our service men and women truly be honored on Memorial Day.