Memorial Day

Ladies and Gentlemen –

Before everyone takes off for their Memorial Day Weekend….

I wanted to leave you with something to think about.

As I have chronicled at great length in the past…..

There are a lot of things I simply don’t understand in this life

I don’t know why Professional Baseball last’s 11 and ½ months of the year…and then they still have to play a seven game series to determine a “champion”

I don’t know why local sheriffs wear more starts on their collars than Admiral Chester Nimitz, what are they doing, preparing to invade the Philippines?

I don’t know why the weather man feels obligated to tell me what happened twelve hours ago, I was there….I get it.

I don’t understand why the same people who are pro-abortion are also against the death penalty

EDITORS NOTE: Let that one sink in for a minute..

That being said, I don’t understand why most people have seemingly forgotten….

Memorial Day

Beyond the days off from work

The travel and vacations….

The cook-outs

The sporting events

The family gatherings

Now don’t get me wrong I have nothing against these wonderful pursuits, I’m not a progressive democrat so I don’t believe in telling people how to live their lives

But there is more to this weekend….

Much more

Memorial Day is about honoring those in the Military who paid the ultimate sacrifice

We can debate the merits and demerits of the conflicts we have been involved in and are STILL involved in and we can argue the validity of the terrible costs of war.

But what cannot be debated is the ultimate sacrifice of human life for our freedoms

And that is what a lot of people in this nation have forgotten…..

They have forgotten names like….

Lt. Michael Murphy USN

Master at Arms Second Class Michael Monsoor USN

Corporal Harlon Block USMC

Private First Class Franklin Sousley USMC

Sergeant First Class Eugene Ashley Jr. United States Army

Staff Sergeant Hammett Bowen Jr. United States Army

Private First Class Ricky Turner United States Army

Captain David Lyon United States Air Force

Certainly there are other names….

Too many names, far too many names

But behind those names were lives….

Lives of accomplishments, laughter, dreams, family and friends….

No one could be expected to remember them all

But that isn’t the point of this article

Too many people have forgotten the “places” of sacrifice

Iwo Jima

Belleau Wood

Ramadi

Al Anbar

San Juan Hill

Khe Sanh

Normandy

Chosin Reservoir

Beirut

Tarawa

Mogadishu

Afghanistan

Kuwait

Vietnam

There are other places too…..

And we should all know them by name

But sadly most American’s don’t know them or any of them for that matter actually

While men and women were fighting (and still are I might add) in Afghanistan

It wasn’t even a topic or a question in any of the latest Presidential Debates

EDITORS NOTE: Let that one sink in for a minute….

Our country is involved in the longest war in our history (and still is…By the Way) and it isn’t even a topic in a Presidential debate or on the latest installment of the evening news and would you like to know why?

Because the people that have selective memory loss (Or choose to ignore it because they simply don’t care)

They want the rest of you to forget about “it” too.

If you listen closely you can almost hear the talking heads on television say….

“Don’t look over there!”

“You might see an example of courage and sacrifice…..”

“You might see selflessness…”

Those values, (yes I said “values”) clash with today’s lack there of….

The “what’s in it for me” mentality

The lying and deceit to justify agendas of this and that…

The greed

They should be ashamed of themselves, but they aren’t

And there in lies the problem

EDITORS NOTE: No pun intended

Please take a moment this Memorial Day to remember some of the names and places of sacrifice for the freedoms you are enjoying this weekend and every weekend.

Teach them to your children so they don’t forget…

Those men and women who paid the ultimate sacrifice….

They were your neighbors

They were your friends

Your teammates

Your guardians

RTR

MEB

There is another installment today on Mikerights.com….

I hope you enjoy it

Have a safe Memorial Day Weekend

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