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.