By Ray Cardello for May 26, 2025, Season 31 / Post 16

Our country has had many phases over its relatively short life. From those brave men and women who boarded ships in Europe and headed West, unsure where they would land or what they would find, we have grown together, unfortunately apart. We are a mere child pushing 250 years, while Greece has been around since before Christ walked the desert, and France and England came to be over 1,500 years ago. Young, yes, but we quickly became the envy of the globe. Even with our many flaws and the bumps and bruises we suffered along the way, we have been a magnet for people from every corner of the world who wanted a piece of the American Dream. And regardless of our politics or current mood swings our young land was going through, there has always been one unflappable constant. There have always been the unselfish men and women, the best of the best, the 1%, our sons and daughters, husbands and wives, who voluntarily hit the pause button on their lives to protect ours. All of these beautiful people knew the risk, and unfortunately, far too many have paid the price and given their lives so you and I can enjoy the fruits of this great land. From the fathers and sons who put down their farm tools and picked up their muskets to set us free to the Space Force who are preparing to fight our battles in outer space, one thing has remained true, and that is the unselfish desire of these men and women to go wherever they are sent, fighting enemies they do not know, with the understanding they may never return home. It is these fallen heroes who we remember today. Regardless of how we spend today or the rest of our lives, we owe a thank you to those who sacrificed the ultimate so we could have that pleasure.

I watched the graduations of West Point and the Naval Academy this past week in awe. As our President addressed the cadets as they became the newest second lieutenants in the U.S. Army, and our Vice President did the same with the latest ensigns in the Navy or second lieutenants in the Marines, I was struck with a profound sense of pride that in this country that seems so fractured and directionless, there are still hundreds of true patriots willing to put on a uniform rather than protest garb, and enter a phase of service to millions of people they will never know. I watched JD Vance, one of our exceptional future leaders, take the time to shake the hand of every graduate, and for a fleeting moment, I felt we were in good hands.

Since our inception, over 1.50 million U.S. military members have died. This total includes 646,596 battle deaths and 539,054 non-combat deaths. Many of these deaths occurred in World War II (405,399) and the Civil War (620,000). Many of these brave souls were in the prime of their lives when they traded their uniforms for a flag-draped coffin. They deserve better from us. They died to assure us a better life, and many will say we are squandering that opportunity. Maybe if we spent every day, not just Memorial Day, with these 1.5 million souls looking over us, we could put aside our petty differences, end the corruption in every level of government, stop the feelings of hate that have entered our children’s minds, and start living like someone laid down their life for us to do so, then these amazing warriors will not have died in vain.