Hawaii 2010

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Friday, May 23, 2014

Memorial Weekend ahead

A monument to me....NOT!....but some ancestor who served the state of Indiana.

All people who put themselves as risk for violent death are heroes. This is obviously the armed forces, but for me includes police, fire and security.

I would venture to say that no one expects to become a casualty, so their untimely death becomes the badge of their memorial worth. Every statistical death is then a sacrifice, and the general truth the there is no greater love than laying down your life for someone else becomes operative.

Those who personally know someone who died protecting and serving have a much more vested interest and one focused upon a particular loved on, a specific conflict, and hole in the world. My heart goes out to all these families. Nothing brings back the lost ones.

My dad came back from WWII and raised us, and used the VA to extend his life after cancer. Laura's Uncle Wade perished several days after Normandy taking back a French town and is buried in the American War Cemetary in Lyon France. This connection has helped me appreciate Memorial Day. A connection.

Freedom is not free, we say, it takes people willing to protect it. Thanks to God and to the memories of fallen soldiers.

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