Memorial Day honors the courageous women and men who served in the United States armed services and lost their lives defending our freedoms and the democratic way of life on which this country was founded.
Since the Civil War, which resulted in an astounding 620,000 military fatalities, slightly more than that number of servicemen and women have been killed on battlefields around the world defending our democracy and freedom. The collective toll of these numbers, as well as the incredible bravery shown, has shaped our country in so many ways. Those losses have also forever changed the trajectory of millions of American families, who mourn and mark those casualties on our Memorial Day holiday.
Taking time for personal reflection to think about the very meaning of democracy and the democratic principles for which so many have died is important to do on Memorial Day and every day. It is a responsibility that each American bears and has a duty to defend or risk losing. Today courage and the very question of what it means to be an American are under attack.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. defined courage and spoke to the decision we all must face about our own personal interaction with it like this:
“Courage is an inner resolution to go forward despite obstacles. Cowardice is submissive surrender to circumstances. Courage breeds creativity; cowardice represses fear and is mastered by it. Cowardice asks the question: is it safe? Expediency asks the question: is it politic? Vanity asks the question: is it popular? But conscience asks the question: is it right? And there comes a time when we must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, but one must take it because it is right.”
Patriotism requires courage, the kind exhibited by those who have sacrificed their lives so that the rest of us can continue to live in a representative democracy. That can never be taken for granted. We thank those who paid that sacrifice, and we honor them by respecting and preserving our democracy.
All the best,
John K. Hoey
President & CEO
The Y in Central Maryland