VFW Post 1578 held its annual Memorial Day Service

Memorial Day is not a day of celebration, as if it were the Fourth of July, although our national colors have had a prominent place in its observance since the Civil War. The distinction has to do with what we are celebrating - not a glorious beginning but an honorable end - an end which, whether it were heroic or not, should be observed and remembered with solemnity and reverence. Memorial Day is a day we dedicate to the dead - to remember those who fell in defense of this country and the ideas which this country stands for.

War should not be the occupation of humankind. To ensure that it is not, to ensure that it does not touch every household and every living being, some have forfeited their lives. They did not choose to die for us. Instead, they chose, or were sometimes required, to live in a manner which brought them in harm's way, and to that harm they fell.

Our task on Memorial Day is not to validate the sacrifice but to acknowledge it, to remember that it was made. And if any validation is necessary, it is for we the living to prove that we are worthy of the sacrifice through dedication toward the peace that was purchased by these honored dead.