I'm a veteran.
When people find out, they often say, "Thank you for your service."
In truth, it always makes me feel very weird when they do so. I was out before 9/11. I served during a tumultuous time, with Somalia and Bosnia serving as hotspots, but I was never called upon to do much of anything.
On this day, though, the phrase bothers me more because this day isn't about us. It's about those whom we can't thank directly. It's about our brothers and sisters who never came home.
From Bunker Hill and Yorktown, to New Orleans and Lake Erie, to Gettysburg and Antietam, to San Juan Hill, to Belleau Woods, to Normandy, to Heartbreak Ride, to Keh Sanh, to the deserts of Iraq, Afghanistan, and countless places whose names we can't remember or never knew, they fought and died.
To my uncle, PFC Harry Jefferson, USMC, who fell at the Battle of Iwo Jima just a few weeks shy of his 20th birthday, and the millions of others who have given their lives for this nation, all I can say is the ultimate, "Thank you for your service."
Many of you enlisted in a time of war. You volunteered to go into the fight and paid the ultimate price.
Others were told to go. They might not have wanted to, but when their nation called, they didn't flee. They stepped up and did as they were asked. Many stayed in the military upon returning. Others got out when they could. You, though? You lot never got that option. You paid the price just the same, and we can never repay you for it.
But, at least for me, it's not just about them.
It's about those who also came home and found that the peace was even tougher than the war for some reason. Whether is the fact that the civilian world is just too different for them or that they can't live with the horrors they've seen, they take their own lives. It's a good time to honor these men and women by taking the steps to make sure their ranks don't grow.
As a result of this somber occasion, there won't be any cookouts or parties for me. No taking advantage of Memorial Day sales or other things that cheapen the solemnity.
Instead, I'll enjoy my family, thankful we're all still here, and I'll have a drink later to remember those who have gone.
We must honor these men and women, though, in more vital ways. We need to rebuild America into a nation worthy of their sacrifice, where we are strong internationally--so strong that other nations think twice about risking our ire--and are strong internally. We need to protect our children, our borders, our American values, and end this march toward embracing the very Marxism that many of these men and women died fighting.
Yes, we must Make America Great Again, but we must also create a world where it will never fall from that greatness.
We owe it to too many of my brothers and sisters who cannot work toward that goal today, but did their part on foreign shores.