Memorial Day: Time to remember those of valor

The tradition of honoring our country’s fallen defenders began as a springtime custom following the Civil War. Originally, called Decoration Day, it was a time to remember those whose valor knew no bounds.

To the list of those who died at Gettysburg and Bull Run, we have added names from San Juan Hill, Verdun, Corregidor, Inchon, Khe Sanh, Vietnam, the deserts of the Middle East, and a thousand other places touched by war.

For most of the year, these brave souls lie in anonymity, but on Memorial Day we bring them back to life with our thanks for their great sacrifice.

It is not really a time of sadness. Rather it should be an affirmation that these men and women did not lose their lives in vain.

This special day is a time of tribute to those who fell and to a country that plunged onward in pursuit of justice and democracy. We mourn our dead, but we rejoice in their memory and in the democracy they defended.