They died for ordinary days.

FRANKFORT – We have reached the time of year set aside to pay tribute to those who made the ultimate sacrifice to secure and protect our freedom and our way of life. 

We have the pleasure and the privilege of living in the greatest nation in the world, maybe even the greatest in history.  But we didn’t just become that way overnight. It took hard work, and even harder sacrifice, to make America what she is.

More than a million men and women have given their lives to create and preserve the United States of America. Their collective service spans continents and centuries. Bound together by a common goal to protect America and to make the world a better place, their contribution has been and remains immeasurable.  Some of them were our family members and friends. Some, we remember. All, we honor.

Our armed forces have fought through the centuries to ensure we have the freedom to enjoy ‘life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,’ as the Declaration proclaims. The best tribute you can pay to them is to make the most of the opportunities you’ve been given.

Freedom is one of the greatest gifts we receive. Don’t squander it or take it for granted.  A high cost was paid for us to be able to openly speak our minds, to elect our own leaders, to choose our religion, and to make our own way in life – not held back by any social caste system or repressive form of government.

So on Memorial Day – a day set aside to remember those who, in Lincoln’s great words, ‘gave the last full measure of devotion,’ – let’s make it our goal to honor the sacrifices of our past and present soldiers and veterans more than just one day a year.  

Because it wasn’t holidays and ceremonies for which they fought and died. 

They died for ordinary American days. Precious unexceptional weekends in quiet farming communities where the humidity is starting to rise, the crops and gardens are starting to grow and the kids are settling in for a summer of fun.  Where families are setting out on vacations and friends are gathering around camp fires, picnic tables, or the backyard grill.  An America where can live long, happy, productive lives of peace and freedom, deeply grateful to those who made it possible.