Boehner Column: "Honoring Those Who Have Died Fighting for Our Freedom"
In his speech commemorating the 40th anniversary of D-Day, Ronald Reagan said, “We will always remember. We will always be proud. We will always be prepared so we may always be free.” As we approach Memorial Day next Monday, it is important that all of us remember the brave men and women who have died fighting for our freedom.
A day to honor fallen troops was first declared May 5, 1868 to honor Union soldiers who died fighting the Civil War. Passions still ran high and though Southern states declined to honor their soldiers on the same day, each state in our union did set aside one day a year to honor its soldiers. Following World War I, the intent of Memorial Day was changed to honor all who died fighting.
As we prepare for this Memorial Day, we have both much to be grateful for and much to mourn. We are grateful for the men and women who volunteer to fight for our freedom. And we mourn the loss of each.
Seven years ago, a National Moment of Remembrance was established to unify Americans in their recognition of fallen troops. At 3 pm Monday, May 28, please observe a moment of silence in honor of our troops. Among the other ways we can commemorate Memorial Day are to place American flags or flowers on the graves at Veteran cemeteries, visit troop memorials or fly a POW/MIA flag.
The conflicts that have embroiled our country divide us. Just as our soldiers, sailors and airmen engage in deadly combat with our enemies in the Global War on Terror, we at home engage in biting debates. There is one thing, though, on which we agree: We will never again allow the brave men and women who fight for our freedom to be disparaged as happened to Vietnam veterans when they returned home. What a dark time that was for our country. Today, we throw parades and host parties to honor those who return home. And we gather together to mourn those who do not.
In November 1863, President Abraham Lincoln delivered his famous Gettysburg Address, which still resonates today. On that day, he traveled to that small market town in Pennsylvania to participate in the dedication of the Soldiers’ National Ceremony. By that time, President Lincoln would have learned that Union and Confederate casualties from the Battle of Gettysburg that summer totaled more than 51,000. Lincoln ’s address eloquently captured the larger picture, which requires the ability to stand back from the emotional pleas and understand what we’re fighting for:
“It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”
Please join me this Memorial Day in honoring those who so bravely fought -- and continue to fight – for our freedom.
Boehner represents Ohio ’s 8th District, which includes all of Darke, Miami and Preble counties, most of Butler and Mercer counties, and the northeastern corner of Montgomery County . He was first elected to Congress in 1990.
