Gina Branch

As a retired combat veteran, Memorial Day holds a special meaning to me. I’ve lost friends who made the ultimate sacrifice defending our way of life. While the memory of the personal loss fades with time, the ideals that they believed in have grown stronger.

Seeing the flag raised and hearing the National Anthem played still brings tears to my eyes. I’m beginning to think that only those who have served her and accepted the unlimited liability clause can love her and see her the way we do.

Ronald Reagan may have captured it best in his farewell address to the nation. Reagan said, “I’ve spoken of the Shining City all my political life. …In my mind it was a tall, proud city built on rocks stronger than oceans, windswept, God-blessed, and teeming with people of all kinds living in harmony and peace; a city with free ports that hummed with commerce and creativity. And if there had to be city walls, the walls had doors and the doors were open to anyone with the will and the heart to get here. That’s how I saw it, and see it still.”

I’m not naïve enough to believe we don’t have problems and challenges, but I do believe that the founding fathers of this great nation had extraordinary vision. The Declaration of Independence and the Constitution are timeless in their statement of those beliefs.

John F. Kennedy wrote, “As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.”