Honor Them!

On the day before Memorial Day 2019, a deep sense of sadness and appreciation swept over me as I watched this video that was shown during the Sunday morning worship service at my church.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WKMtoqe9dyA 

Georgia National Cemetery in Canton, GA.
(c) Johnnie Ann Gaskill, August 24, 2014. 

I felt similar emotions again that evening as I watched the 30th annual Memorial Day Concert on TV. I realized anew the enormity of the sacrifices made by all the brave men and women (and their families) who served in the military to protect the freedoms you and I cherish today. Many of them died while in active combat. All who died were more than just the names on the headstones standing row upon row in national cemeteries. Each was a real person: someone's child or sibling or parent. Hopefully, all were cherished and loved by family and friends during their brief stay on this earth.

May we honor their memory by being profoundly grateful for their lives and by cherishing the freedoms they died to protect.