The Price of Liberty

On this Memorial Day, as we remember our dead, there are some other important things we need to remember. We know that the price of liberty includes, in those unforgettable words, our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor. On Memorial Day, we can easily meditate on how high the price can be. But that is not the only lessons we need to recall on this day.

One is, of course, this:

But there are many, many others. Most tie directly to Memorial Day:

1. Those American soldiers, sailors, Marines, and airmen – yes, and Coast Guardsmen and Public Health Service (PHS) – men and women in uniform, who gave their lives in war and “peacetime” virtually always believed that they were fighting for our liberty, for preserving and protecting the Constitution which they believed helped preserve that liberty, and for the American people: their families, neighbors, communities, States, and for foreign people who were suffering under tyranny.
2. The fact that many of those who gave their lives were wrong about why Congress sent them (or allowed the White House) to send them to fight and die? That is yet again something else that must be remembered on this and every Memorial Day.
3. We cannot go back in time to keep that from happening, or to punish those who lied and sent them out. We must leave that punishment in the Lord’s hands. But we can and must work to end that evil now and in the future, and Memorial Day is a good day to make that commitment, in honor of those who died.
4. Showing disrespect to those men and women and those who honor them in cemetaries, in parades on American streets, and in various ceremonies accomplishes little or nothing except to needlessly anger people about the disrespect. We need instead, with love, kindness, and sympathy, to encourage those people to join in making sure it does not happen in the future.
5. In addition to those in military service who died in or as a result of deployment and combat since 1774, we also need to remember those who were not in uniform. (And not in poorly- or unorganized forces, such as rebels and insurgents.) The civilians who died in war: children, women, and men. Some deserve honor, all deserve sympathy and to be remembered.
6. The best way we can honor and sympathize with those who died is to work, individually and together, to end the scorge of war. Not by creating more government or giving government more power. Not by giving up weapons of war which can be used to defend against those who would do us harm – whether they be government or “free-lance.” Rather, by teaching men, women, and especially children, to love and respect one another, to govern themselves, to refuse to initiate violence against others, and to take responsibility and accept accountability for their own actions. To treat others as they wish to be treated.

This Memorial Day 2025, please think on these things. And also tell others about peace and prosperity through proclaiming liberty unto all the land and to all the inhabitants thereof. Not just from sea to shining sea but from the heights of orbit to the deepest valleys and mines.

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