Here in South Central Texas the sun is setting on Memorial Day, 2021.

This is the one day of the year dedicated to remembering the fallen heroes who paid the ultimate price for the rights and liberties we enjoy as citizens of this, the greatest country on the face of the earth,

We owe a debt that can never be paid, a debt to each of those patriotic men and women who sacrificed their all for all that we lay claim to as American citizens.

How dare we make this a day about trivial pursuits of pleasure rather than focusing on the solemn duty to offer prayers of gratitude for the blood shed on our behalf.

How dare elected leaders our country dismiss the meaning of this day with a cavalier, “keep cool out there,” while eating an ice cream cone or, “enjoy the long weekend.” Where is the honor and gratitude in those comments?

I am a proud veteran, ten years in military service, but this day isn’t about me or anyone else who can read these words. As veterans we have a day on which our nation pauses to offer us collective thanks for whatever degree of service and/or sacrifice we have made. Today is all about those who did not survive to be thanked in person.

Memorial Day was originally the day on which we visited the graves of those who had fallen in battle, let us not lose sight of that purpose.

Patriotism was once an integral part of every civic occasion. Statues of military heroes populated town squares across the nation and the flag was proudly waved from coast to coast. We were a people proud of our country, willing to pay whatever price necessary to maintain the freedoms purchased at great cost by the bravest of the brave.

How dare we trivialize their sacrifice by converting this day into just another excuse to take a day off. How dare we we abandon the reason for this day, that of offering honor to, and prayers for those who shed their life’s blood to guarantee our right to live peacefully here in America is the planet’s greatest nation and it’s largest magnet for legal immigration.

America is indisputably the greatest nation. Proof of this statement is that millions of people from every nation on earth vote, and have voted, with their feet by coming here to enjoy the rights and freedoms that those who gave their all secured for us.

How dare we not make the true purpose of the day foremost in all we do on this day?

How dare we allow the meaning this day and the meaning of all other patriotic holidays to slip away? Do we not realize that a nation that abandons its shared spirit of nationalism will soon cease being a nation?

How dare we allow the greatest experiment in self government ever attempted to so easily slip away?

Do we lack the courage to dare to step up and reclaim the ideal so many died to protect?