Daily Archives: May 26, 2025

Mike Sarraille, Kirk Offel (FN): Freedom Isn’t Free: Honor Those Who Never Came Home on this Memorial Day

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Memorial Day should make you a little uncomfortable. Because sacrifice should never be comfortable. But from that discomfort can come gratitude. And from gratitude, a commitment to live better—not in guilt, but in honor.

And yet sadly, for most Americans, it merely marks the start of summer. It’s beach chairs and burgers, sales and three-day weekends—a reprieve from work with little thought given to the sacrifice this day was meant to honor. But for those of us who’ve stood on foreign soil, witness to teammates who never came home, Memorial Day is a haunting—but beautiful— reckoning we face each year.

There’s a harsh truth about war that never leaves you: the fallen gave everything in an instant—and the living carry it for a lifetime.

For those with ears to hear, listen and understand. Read it all.

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Jeremy Hunt (FN): Why Saying ‘Happy Memorial Day’ Misses the True Meaning of the Holiday

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This Memorial Day, many Americans will gather for barbecues, enjoy a long weekend, or mark the start of summer. But amid the festivities, one phrase you won’t—or shouldn’t—hear is “Happy Memorial Day.” Unlike Veterans Day which celebrates service members past and present, Memorial Day is a solemn occasion, a time to honor the American service members who made the ultimate sacrifice. To wish someone a “happy” Memorial Day completely misses the purpose of the day.

Memorial Day, established after the Civil War and formalized as a federal holiday in 1971, is dedicated to those who died in military service. Each flag at half-staff, each wreath laid at Arlington National Cemetery, represents lives cut short—sons, daughters, parents, and friends who never returned home. Their sacrifice secured the freedoms we cherish. 

That’s why the words we choose on this day matter. Memorial Day actually isn’t about celebrating service members. It isn’t even a time to advocate for greater benefits for our veterans. It’s a day to reflect on the sacrifice of those few brave men and women in uniform who gave their lives for our country. Accordingly, we ought to choose words that promote the true purpose of the day. 

For those with ears to hear, listen and understand. Read it all.

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Memorial Day 2025: General Orders No. 11, Washington DC, May 5, 1868

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From here.

  1. The 30th day of May, 1868, is designated for the purpose of strewing with flowers or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country during the late rebellion, and whose bodies now lie in almost every city, village, and hamlet church-yard in the land. In this observance no form of ceremony is prescribed, but posts and comrades will in their own way arrange such fitting services and testimonials of respect as circumstances may permit. 

JOHN A. LOGAN,
Commander-in-Chief

N.P. CHIPMAN,
Adjutant General

Official:
WM. T. COLLINS, A.A.G.

Read the entire order that started Memorial Day.

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A Prayer for Memorial Day 2025

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Adapted from here:

Eternal God,
Creator of years, of centuries,
Lord of whatever is beyond time,
Maker of all species and master of all history —
How shall we speak to you
from our smallness and inconsequence?
Except that you have called us to worship you in spirit and in truth;
You have dignified us with loves and loyalties;
You have lifted us up with your loving-kindnesses.
Therefore we are bold to come before you without groveling
(though we sometimes feel that low)
and without fear
(though we are often anxious).
We sing with spirit and pray with courage
because you have dignified us;
You have redeemed us from the aimlessness
of things going meaninglessly well.

God, lift the hearts of those
for whom this holiday is not just diversion,
but painful memory and continued deprivation.
Bless those whose dear ones have died
needlessly, wastefully (as it seems)
in accident or misadventure.
We remember with compassion and thanksgiving those who have died
serving this country in times of war.

We all must come to bereavement and separation,
when all the answers we are offered
fail the question death asks of each of us.
But we believe that you will provide for us
as others have been provided with the fulfillment of
“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted”
because we believe that you have raised Jesus our Lord from the dead
and conquered death itself,
and that you have given us the privilege
of sharing in his risen life as his followers,
both now and for all eternity.
We offer our prayers and thanksgiving
in Jesus our risen Lord’s name. Amen.

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Memorial Day 2025: A Short History of Memorial Day

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From here.

Memorial Day, originally called Decoration Day, is a day of remembrance for those who have died in service of the United States of America. Over two dozen cities and towns claim to be the birthplace of Memorial Day. While Waterloo N.Y. was officially declared the birthplace of Memorial Day by President Lyndon Johnson in May 1966, it’s difficult to prove conclusively the origins of the day. Regardless of the exact date or location of its origins, one thing is clear – Memorial Day was borne out of the Civil War and a desire to honor our dead. It was officially proclaimed on 5 May 1868 by General John Logan, national commander of the Grand Army of the Republic, in his General Order No. 11. “The 30th of May, 1868, is designated for the purpose of strewing with flowers, or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country during the late rebellion, and whose bodies now lie in almost every city, village and hamlet churchyard in the land,” he proclaimed. The date of Decoration Day, as he called it, was chosen because it wasn’t the anniversary of any particular battle.On the first Decoration Day, General James Garfield made a speech at Arlington National Cemetery, and 5,000 participants decorated the graves of the 20,000 Union and Confederate soldiers buried there.

The first state to officially recognize the holiday was New York in 1873. By 1890 it was recognized by all of the northern states. The South refused to acknowledge the day, honoring their dead on separate days until after World War I (when the holiday changed from honoring just those who died fighting in the Civil War to honoring Americans who died fighting in any war).

Read it all.

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Remembering on Memorial Day 2025

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I am remembering today the men and women who serve and have served our country, and who have given their lives for this nation.

I am thankful for my own grandfathers, John S. Maney and F. Earl Shaffer, who fought in WWI.

I am thankful for my father, John F. Maney, and my uncle, W. Everett Jones, who fought in Europe during WWII.

I am thankful for my father-in-law, Donald E. Traylor, who served in Germany during the Korean War.

I am thankful for my dear friend and brother in Christ, John Falor, who fought in Vietnam as well as my old friends, Tod Tapola, now of blessed memory, and Jim Lytle, who also fought there.

I am thankful for Colonel David Mullins who fought in Iraq.

I am thankful for Matt Collins, the son of my dear friends, Ann and Curt Collins, who served his country as a Marine.

Thank you all, and thank God for continuing to raise up men and women who are willing to serve and sacrifice for our country to keep us free.

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