This Memorial Day, celebrate them and the freedoms they fought for

This Memorial Day, celebrate them and the freedoms they fought for

As a child my family spent many Memorial Days at the cemetery where my relatives were buried. We met at the church and spent the day cleaning around the gravestones and placing flowers on the graves. We listened to our elders recount stories about our deceased family members. Most of the men were veterans of war. This was usually followed by a pot luck lunch.

It seems that those days are gone for most of us. They have been replaced by trips to the lake and backyard barbecues. We simply take advantage of an additional vacation day from work with little thought about the true meaning of the day.

I recently visited the World War II Museum in New Orleans.

I thought about my great-grandfather who fought in the Civil War and my grandfather who fought in World War I… my uncles and father-in-law in World War II, my cousins in Korea and Vietnam… my friends in Desert Storm… and those who died in Iraq. This is the day we pay homage to all those who didn’t come home. This is not Veteran’s Day, it’s not a celebration, it is a day of solemn contemplation over the cost of freedom.

In 2000, Congress passed and President George W.

Bush signed into law, “The National Moment of Remembrance Act — to encourage the people of the United States to give something back to their country which provides them with so much freedom and opportunity.”

The National Moment of Remembrance Act “encourages all Americans to pause wherever they are at 3:00 local time on Memorial Day for a minute of silence to remember and honor those who have died in service to the nation.”

Let’s all join together on this Memorial Day at 3 p.m.

to contemplate the cost of our freedoms… the freedom to speak our mind… to vote… to live where we chose… to travel anywhere in this great nation…the freedom to be anything we choose to be… the freedom to dream. Because we are all Americans and we can come together, to honor those who have given the ultimate sacrifice for the freedoms we all enjoy on this Memorial Day.

From State Representative Deborah Ferguson