This Memorial Day - (Washington Times OpEd - eloquent; well worth reading!)

To mark Memorial Day, we have reprinted Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address. Today, as in 1863, the nation is at war. It is a struggle not with ourselves, but with those who seek to deny us our freedom. In this battle, it is not just soldiers who face the ultimate sacrifice. Americans of all ages, creeds and parties are under threat. Indeed the entire world and all who inhabit it are under threat from Islamist fanatics and other violent radicals. It seems right, therefore, to recall that America's struggle is the world's struggle — it is the test that transcends the ages: "whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure," Lincoln said.

The ideals of freedom have changed little since they were first defined in ancient Greece. From its founding, it has fallen to America to honor and advance them. The dedication and the sacrifice of freedom's defenders is no less great in Baghdad and Kabul than it was in Gettysburg, Lexington and on the plains of Marathon.

Neither words nor deeds can fully pay tribute to those among us who gave so much for the cause of liberty; those who have guarded us with their valor and still protect us with their vigilance.

Memorial Day should open with the same principles that have served since the beginning of the republic.

Memorial Day is a day for Americans to proudly display their patriotism. Each flag that is raised today is a testament to our enemies that we will never bow. As our G.I.s once did on the charred peak of Mt. Suribachi, hoist it high. Put the flag on the car antenna or the bumper. Hang it from the window or on the porch.

Memorial Day was especially moving for me today. I had the honor to participate in the placing of large American Flags in Marion Square (Charleston, SC) in remembrance of the soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. As each name was read over the PA system, a flag bearer marched a flag to a vertical rod in the ground that had been placed the night before. After all one thousand eight hundred plus flags were placed in geometric rows, the entire square was filled. Each flag had a yellow ribbon on the mast with a sticker bearing the soldier's name, city, rank and branch of service. It was a ceremony that I will long remember.

Memorial Day Reflections

In a May 1944 speech titled “What is the Spirit of Liberty?” eminent American jurist, Judge Learned Hand, challenged his audience: “In the spirit of that America for which our young men are at this moment fighting and dying; in that spirit of liberty and of America, I ask you to rise and with me to pledge our faith in . . . our beloved country—with liberty and justice for all.”

“What,” he asked, “do we mean when we say that first of all we seek liberty? I often wonder whether we do not rest our hopes too much upon constitutions, upon laws and upon courts. These are false hopes. . . . Liberty lies in the hearts of men and women. When it dies there, no constitution, no law, no court can save it.... “Liberty,” he explained, “is not the ruthless, the unbridled will. It is not freedom to do as one likes. That is the denial of liberty, and leads straight to its overthrow.”

“A society,” he continued, “in which men recognize no check upon their freedom soon becomes a society where freedom is the possession of only a savage few. . . .The spirit of liberty is the spirit of Him who . . . taught mankind . . . there may be a kingdom where the least shall be heard and considered side by side with the greatest.” (Read Hand’s speech at
http://www.criminaljustice.org/public.nsf/ENews/2002e67?opendocument)

”The heroes we remember never really set out to be heroes. Each loved his life as much as we love ours. Each had a place in the world, a family waiting and friends to see again. They thought of the future just as we do, with plans and hopes for a long life. But they left it all behind when they went to war, and parted with it forever when they died. . . . As we observe this day of remembrance and honor, we remember the more than one million Americans who have died to preserve our freedom, the more than 140,000 citizens who were prisoners of war, and all those who were declared missing in action. “And, as we honor those who have served and have been lost, we better understand the meaning of patriotism and citizenship, and we pledge that their sacrifices will not be in vain.”
– Florida Congressman Jeff Miller - Memorial Day – 2004

This message was run as a full-page, four-color ad with a picture of a folded flag being handed to a family in a North Carolina newspaper on Sunday, May 29, 2005, and sponsored by a local telecommunications and an electric cooperative.

Thank you for your very profound words; - just outstanding for Memorial Day.

Below is something partially quoted by Zell Miller in his speech before the Republican Convention last August.

It is the VETERAN, not the preacher,
who has given us freedom of religion.

It is the VETERAN, not the reporter,
who has given us freedom of the press.

It is the VETERAN, not the poet,
who has given us freedom of speech.

It is the VETERAN, not the campus organizer,
who has given us freedom to assemble.

It is the VETERAN, not the lawyer,
who has given us the right to a fair trial.

It is the VETERAN, not the politician,
Who has given us the right to vote.

It is the VETERAN,
who salutes the Flag,

It is the veteran,
who serves under the Flag,

Wifey and I were rather pissed off at the female Mayor of Indio, CA - an apparent leftie - who read "The Mother's Letter" at the local affair; this is read every year, written by a Gold Star Mother to her son who was KIA in Vietnam.

This wench, upon finishing the reading, just had to make her points about how she's visited Vietnam to learn to "relate" and then went on to state how "we need to bring all our troops home from Iraq - right now".

Her little chat was virtually applause-free, so I'm hoping she realizes she chose the wrong audience for her rant.

Thank you. THANK YOU! You should write a "Letter to the Editor" of your local newspaper about this very inappropriate speech by the Mayor of Indio! More people should speak out on the subject of how leftist-liberals take every opportunity - even Memorial Day (!!) - to push their agendas on the public.

That display was uncalled for. Thank you for sharing it with FR members.

Char (and thanks, SC DOC, for the photo that you posted. It is magnificent!)

You should write a "Letter to the Editor" of your local newspaper about this very inappropriate speech by the Mayor of Indio! More people should speak out on the subject of how leftist-liberals take every opportunity - even Memorial Day (!!) - to push their agendas on the public.

Charlite, I did exactly that last night...and you've paraphrased it pretty darned well...If I've learned anything about these scumbags, it's that I can generally get my LTE's published to slap 'em around now and again.

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