Memorial Day Thank You to the Fallen

“Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate -- we can not consecrate -- we can not hallow -- this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”

This is the Gettysburg Address by Abraham Lincoln. It is fitting to remember this speech on Memorial Day, as it may be the most eloquent dictation of remembrance and perseverance. I would like to personally thank all Americans who have served their nation, with a special thanks to all of those who have given the last full measure, and their families. You will never be forgotten.

As Lincoln said, “It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work…” That is part of the reason that I am so passionately dedicated to advancing the cause of Liberty in the best way that I know. Not only do I firmly believe it to be the noblest path, but also an honor to those who have gone before.

The work to which we dedicate ourselves here and to which many have dedicated themselves before will never be finished; the fight for Liberty is never-ending. To those from whom the fight has demanded the most, on all days and especially on this day, thank you.