“Home of the free because of the brave.” We say that phrase often in America. It’s printed on shirts, slapped onto social media graphics once a year, and repeated in patriotic speeches every Memorial Day weekend. But somewhere along the way, many people have forgotten that it’s not just a slogan. It’s the truth. And it is a foundational belief on which the United States was built.
Freedom is not free. It never has been.
The American way of life exists because brave men and women willingly chose to stand between this country and danger. Often at great personal cost to themselves and the people who love them.
For a little context here, I’m a military brat. My dad served for 28 years as a Lieutenant Colonel in the Air National Guard, and I had the honor of growing up around service members. Around sacrifice. Around people who quietly give pieces of themselves to this country without asking for recognition in return.
And this past decade has been rough for our group.
Several years ago, we lost my Uncle Chris, aka “Warf,” in a freak accident. Then we lost my Uncle Seth, “Jethro,” in a sudden overseas crash. And a couple of years ago, we lost Sara — a Guard member, mother, and one of the kindest, funniest, warmest people in our circle.
I don’t share those losses because I want sympathy. I share them because Memorial Day is supposed to make us uncomfortable for a moment. It’s supposed to remind us that our freedom comes at a cost.
Real people paid for our freedom. Not abstract ideas. Not talking points. People.
People with families and inside jokes. People with dreams, kids, careers, and friends who still expect to see their name light up on their phone.
People who left behind empty seats at dinner tables and holes in communities that can never fully be filled.
That’s the part of Memorial Day that can get lost in between the mattress sales, boat photos, and “long weekend” captions. Somebody paid for this life we get to live, and many of them paid in full.
That reality has changed me as I’ve gotten older. Because loss has a way of making things crystal clear. It reminds you that tomorrow is never guaranteed and that time is our most precious commodity. That people matter more than schedules, notifications, or whatever manufactured outrage is dominating the internet that day.
It reminds you to call your family. To hug your friends a little longer. To say the thing you keep assuming you’ll have more time to say. Because one day, you won’t.
The military community understands this in a way that’s hard to explain unless you’ve lived around it. There’s a different level of gratitude for ordinary moments because military families know how quickly life can change. They know what sacrifice looks like up close, and they understand that service is not theoretical — it’s deeply personal.
And despite everything our country has been through politically, culturally, and socially over the past decade or two, I still believe this: America is worth protecting.
Not because we are perfect (far from it) and not because we always get things right. But because this country still represents something rare in human history — freedom, opportunity, individual liberty, faith, family, and the ability to build a life bigger than the circumstances you were born into.
That is worth defending, my friends. And thankfully, there are still brave men and women willing to do exactly that.
So this Memorial Day, enjoy the long weekend. Spend time with your family. Make new memories with friends. Celebrate the blessings that come with living in the greatest nation on earth. But never lose sight of what it costs to preserve it.
Over 1.3 million American servicemen and women have given their lives for this country since the Revolutionary War. Across every generation, brave Americans stood in defense of freedom, knowing the sacrifice that service could demand. Our nation was built by courage, protected by sacrifice, and has been sustained by those willing to lay down their lives so the rest of us could continue chasing the American Dream they’ve fought to preserve.
"Thank you" will never be enough.
Editor’s Note: Thanks to President Trump and his administration’s bold leadership, we are respected on the world stage, and our enemies are being put on notice.
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