What Memorial Day Means to Me

Every time I hear the song, "I'm Proud to be an American," while hundreds of people watch glittering firecrackers in the sky during the Fourth of July, I remember exactly why I am proud to be an American. I am proud to be a part of this country...a country where so many men and women have died to uphold its honor and its wonderful name. Men and women today join the military knowing that they, too, can one day become a name that will never be forgotten but always remembered in history as a true hero in every sense. When I look around me, and see Americans of all ages and color doing great things to improve this world and society, I remember why we are such a successful and prosperous nation. To be part of something so diverse and rich in culture is an indescribable honor. I live near Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas. Every time I enter the installation, I see the graves of hundreds of men and women neatly aligned on an impeccable carpet of lush, green grass. I think of each of those tombstones signifies a great American hero. And this is what Memorial Day commemorates: The brave men and women who lie underneath the Earth just so that we may stay proud on the ground above. These men and women gave their lives selflessly, thinking of not themselves but the future of us...the future of the citizens of the United States of America.

There is another song that always brings tears to my eyes when I listen to it. It is a song that also captures the spirit of American. The song is known as "In Flanders Fields", which was a song written by Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae. The song is like this: "In Flanders Fields, the poppies blow, between the crosses row on row that mark our place. And in the sky the larks, still bravely singing, fly...Scarce heard amid the guns below. We are the Dead, short days ago we lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, loved and were loved, and now we lie in Flanders fields. Take up our quarrel with the foe: To you from failing hands we throw. The torch; be yours to hold it high. If ye break faith with us who die, we shall not sleep, though poppies grow In Flanders fields. Even though this beautiful poem was written by a Canadian soldier during the horrible battle Ypres in the spring of 1915, it exemplifies the honor that the befallen heroes among us cry out from the graves. They want us to hold the torch of victory high. They want their death to always have meaning, and to have never been in vain.

Even though not everyone agrees with what is going on now concerning the war, we can all agree at least one thing: The men and women who are overseas right now are the heroes of our generation. Our Memorial Day not only glorifies those who have been lost, but those who are in action right now, defending this area of land that we claim as Ours. Memorial Day reminds me of those who not only died while wearing a uniform, but those who died while enjoying the freedoms of this great country, such as the men and women who died at the World Trade Center in New York City not too long ago. Those brave men and women, whose fate led them to work that day, died but only in the honor that Americans can die in. They died while being free. They died while enjoying the fruits of the labor of the ghosts from the past.

Whenever I hear taps being played, whenever I see fireworks in the sky, whenever I see flags hanging proudly on their staffs, I know that I am safe and I know that I am free. And what a pleasure it is to live in a country where you know in your heart you will always be free. What a pleasure it is to know that as long as there are those courageous men and women who are born to fight for in the name of all that is American, we will always be a great Country. God bless American, today and always, and forever.