So it’s Memorial Day. Do you put any special emphasis on it? No doubt you’ve been to cemeteries where veterans are buried…some of them congregated into large portions of the cemetery, with the grave markers all perfectly rowed, and you thought, “yes, a lot of men have died, fighting for our country.” And if you’ve ever been to Arlington Cemetery in Washington, D.C., it will impress you…the literally thousands of graves, and probably while you’re there, you’ll see another young, or old…veteran being buried.

But just a minute. Don’t pass this thing off so easily. You’re looking at the graves of kids…many 18 or 19-year-olds, and some who lied about their age and got into our battles at age 16 or 17. And those who were fortunate enough to get back and grow old with their loved ones, were youngsters when they were fighting. In fact, if you’ve read much about…well, World War Two, for example…you’ll find that men who were as old as 25, were usually called “Pappy,” or some other “old man” nick-name.

There were females in those battle areas, too…as nurses or in some other capacity not usually close to the battlefields in those days. But today, even that has changed, and women are allowed to fight, right along beside the men. Of course they asked for it, wanting equality with men in every way.

Memorial Day, originally called Decoration Day, is a day of remembrance for those who have died in our nation’s service. Down in Branson, there’s a special building on The Strip, that has memorabilia from all the wars, and on the walls inside, are the names of every military person who died in each war! Yes, I looked for the name of one of the boys from my home town, a sailor who died in World War Two, and his name was there. Somehow, I consider that place “holy ground.”

When you see a list of names of veterans, at least say a prayer of thanks…kids who gave their very lives for you and me. I was in service for four years in the Korean Conflict, and the boys who went into battle, played no favorites…they died for me, too. I was put in a drone squadron and didn’t see battle, so I came back. But I was ready to go wherever they sent me.

Memorial Day is not just another day. It’s to remember kids long dead, who gave up dating, and marriage, and children, and home, and all the things we take for granted, and we complain if we don’t have them.

Memorial Day, like Veterans Day in November. It’s special.