Memorial Day 2025

“But if it be a sin to covet honour,

I am the most offending soul alive.”

Henry V- William Shakespeare

Honor.

It is a word like no other in the English language. If you have ever looked beyond the sadness and grief of a Gold Star Mother or Father, you understand a little bit about honor. The grief of loss will abate and the anger n their heart will lessen. Eventually, what will be left is honor. The honor that we, the living can appreciate but can never truly understand.

President Eisenhower was quoted as saying that no man abhors war as much as a military man. He knew what he was talking about. He knew the guilt of sending young men to war. He knew that many of them would not come back alive. But he knew something else. He knew that the honor of fighting, and even of dying for a cause is the ultimate use of life.

The song, “War” by Edwin Star, declares, “War, what is it good for…absolutely nothing!”

In the context of Vietnam, he was partially correct. In the context of 1776, D-Day, or even Gettysburg, he was wrong, dead wrong, and ignorant of the true meaning of honor. Sometimes the greater good demands that young people with honor fight and even die for it.

And while cynics with power have the ability to send them to their deaths, they have no concept of the heartfelt love for our country that the “cannon fodder,” possess.

Long after the politicians and pundits who, for their own benefit, cause wars, are forgotten, those who fought and died will be remembered by people of good will who understand one important word.

Honor.