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The very least we can do is remember the sacrifices

“Day is done, gone the sun, From the lake, from the hills, from the sky; All is well, safely rest, God is nigh.

Fading light, dims the sight, And a star gems the sky, gleaming bright. From afar, drawing nigh, falls the night.

Thanks and praise, for our days, ‘Neath the sun, ‘neath the stars, neath the sky; As we go, this we know, God is nigh.

Sun has set, shadows come, Time has fled, Scouts must go to their beds; Always true to the promise that they made.

While the light fades from sight, And the stars gleaming rays softly send, To thy hands we our souls, Lord, commend.”

You know the melody. It is “Taps” — the bugle or trumpet call arranged by a Civil War general as a “lights out” signal to the troops. Later, its mournful tones were adopted for use at military funerals. It is a sound that will echo throughout countless Memorial Day services today including those in Salem, Columbiana, Leetonia/Washingtonivlle, Lisbon, East Palestine, Salineville, West Township and other nearby locales. Let the words and sounds of “Taps” sink into our hearts and resonate throughout our very souls.

For Americans outside the armed forces, today is often the mental start of summer. It’s a day to fire up the grill and enjoy an afternoon in the back yard. Maybe toss a baseball around with the kids or work on the golf game. That is OK but do we all recognize that the roughly millions of Americans who have died throughout the nation’s history are the reason we can celebrate in relative peace and freedom?

Today, military personnel continue to serve around the world. It is at risk to their lives — at great sacrifice to their families and themselves — to defend the nation, to represent its best interest and to be of service to those in need in the name of the United States of America.

They are risking their lives so the nation doesn’t have to live in fear. It is because of those who have served and are serving that you can fire up the grill today and play catch in the backyard. Service personnel sacrifice their home life to provide assistance to nations and people in trouble, be it from war or natural disaster.

We are free because, since the Revolution, the very war that led to the founding of the most free and most stable Republic in the history of man, there have been people willing to step forward, despite the chance they would die, to defend the nation’s interests.

Enemies foreign and domestic have been fought, stared down and put to rest, often at grave cost to our own people, our armed forces personnel who paid the ultimate price in the loss of their very lives.

The survival of the nation owes an unpayable debt to those who sacrificed their existence so the United States of America could continue to exist. They give their very lives for us. Think heartily about that and let that thought echo in your being. Today we honor those who made that ultimate sacrifice. As Americans have done for generations, we as a nation pause on Memorial Day to reflect on the gift given over and over again to us for more than two centuries by those who died while in service to our country. It is a gift — willingness to lay down one’s life for fellow Americans — beyond repaying. Merely in statistics, the number is enormous: One count of Americans in uniform killed during armed conflicts totals 1,319,943. The number could be much higher — and it does not include the many who have died in so-called “peacetime.”

Please think about that for at least a few moments today and be humbled. It is the very least we can do to honor each and every brave man and woman who fought and served.

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