Memorial Day - Remembering the Fallen

Today is the day to remember the fallen.  There will be no shortage of words published today, no shortage of pundits exhorting Americans to remember our fallen soldiers while they barbecue, hit the beach, and celebrate a holiday with family and friends.

I don't want to necessarily add to those exhortations.  This posting is a private reflection of mine, focused on the immortal words from Canadian poet John McCrae:

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.

Perhaps the most poignant line in the poem is "if ye break faith with us who die."  We owe our fallen a debt, to preserve the freedom that they died for. 

It remains my view that this contract has already been broken in Europe, where those descended from the Vikings, Romans, and Greeks are now afraid of war.  They live lives dependent on their governments, yielding passively to aggression caused by emboldened, backward peoples from other lands.  They have disarmed themselves in the mistaken belief that, without weapons, they will ensure peace -- that their enemies' hearts will be softened and they, too, will willingly become pacifist.  How they arrive at such misguided views is beyond comprehension at times.

The truth is this.  Freedom is not free, freedom is not easy.  Many, many men have died so that we could be free.  Remembering this simple truth is my exhortation to you all on this Memorial Day.