Memorial Day: A Time to Remember

Most people see Memorial Day as the official start of summer and I guess that is pretty much true, even if it was only 43 degrees here this morning (sure didn't feel like summer).  I am reminded that Monday is a special day for another reason all together, a reason I feel is often overlooked.  Memorial Day is a day to honor and remember those service men and women who have been killed serving our country.  I should point out it is sometimes confused with Veterans Day, which is for our Armed Forces Veterans, living and dead.  Just to give you a little history on this day, it was first called Decoration Day and originated after the Civil War as a way to honor and remember the Confederate and Union soldiers who died during the war.  It would later become associated with all soldiers who were killed serving our country.  I think many people don't really take the time to remember what this day is really about. Most people consider it a time to be with family, go to the pool, cook out, go on vacation, etc. and all that is fine and dandy. I'm not saying you shouldn't take the opportunity to spend as much time with your family as possible, but I do think that sometime during the day we all, each one of us, should take a moment to remember those who have fought and died for our freedom.  I did some research and at first I used Wikipedia which gave me faulty numbers, so I had to go back and do more research and according to what I found from the years 1775-present day there have been 1,264,000 American soldiers killed during war time.  The highest number being during the American Civil War when 620,000 soldiers gave their lives from 1861-1865.  When you take the time to really consider how high those numbers are it can be mind blowing, it almost seems impossible to wrap your head around the thought.  I'm asking each of you to take a simple moment sometime on Monday to reflect and remember. Take a moment to consider that our nation and it's people are what we are due to those who gave their all on the field of battle.  


God Bless you all this Memorial Day and God Bless America!! 



"That's my "two cents worth", what's yours?"