Remembering the Heroes Who Gave Their Lives in Defense of Liberty

Throughout our nation this weekend, Americans will honor those who have fallen in defense of our country and our way of life. Many worthy tributes will be made in solemn gratitude for this ultimate sacrifice. And as a grateful nation gives tribute, we should also be reminded that words alone are inadequate to repay those who laid down their lives for us.

In remarks given at Arlington Cemetery forty years ago, President Ronald Reagan described honoring our fallen countrymen this way:

“[I]f words cannot repay the debt we owe these men, surely with our actions we must strive to keep faith with them and with the vision that led them to battle and to final sacrifice.

“Our first obligation to them and ourselves is plain enough: the United States and the freedom for which it stands, the freedom [for] which they died, must endure and prosper.”

As we honor the final sacrifice of our nations’ heroes this weekend, let us also honor the legacy of freedom for which they fought. And let us continue that legacy by working—in ways big and small—to ensure that freedom will endure.

Please join us in remembering with deep gratitude those who lost their lives in the cause of liberty.

Jon Riches is the Director of National Litigation at the Goldwater Institute and a Commander in the U.S. Navy Reserve