February 17, 2011
By Staff Reporter
And for the eighth straight year, Americans will salute and remember the nation’s war dead even as the nation itself is at war.
Memorial Day largely owes its existence to General John A Logan, a Civil War Union general of some distinction who rightly recognized the need to honor the fallen in war so that they not be forgotten, and indeed so that war and its terrible cost might not be easily forgotten either.
As history has turned out, knowledge of war’s awful cost has not been a buttress against conflict, either self-inflicted, or unleashed upon us by those who wish America ill.
But the importance of honoring those who have sacrificed their lives and their earthly well being to defend America’s people and principles stands solely on its own merit.
So as we mark summer’s birth this weekend, we do well to remember those who never lived to see the full complement of summers that come with a full run at life.