Squandering the Multi-Generational Inheritance of Freedom

Now that Memorial Day weekend has passed and memories of time spent with loved ones begin to fade, it’s crucial to revisit the importance of this day. This post aims to bring attention to an issue that continues to affect our country while still honoring the memory of our fallen heroes of past wars.

When the country was more cohesive than it is today and reverence for the dead, especially fallen soldiers, was part of the fabric of the country’s culture, Memorial Day, previously known as Decoration Day, was less about backyard gatherings and more about visiting veteran’s graves and placing flowers on them. Some still go to the cemetery and honor those soldiers, but the practice is dwindling as each year passes.

The gradual change from decorating a grave to a full-blown BBQ in the backyard is not the point of this essay. There is nothing wrong with meeting with family and friends and celebrating life with them, even if it is Memorial Day.  The problem lies in how little time is spent on the gratitude for having received an inheritance from them, and more than just one inheritance—a multigenerational one. 

The inheritance we all have received and use as free citizens was gained on the backs of all men and women who sacrificed their lives from the Revolutionary War until today. Taking a step back and reflecting on how many families throughout our history had to live with the repercussions of those wars and never seeing or talking to their loved ones is a profound and sad thought.

These men and women gave their lives in part from obligation as citizens of a free nation but more from the notion that evil in the world seeks to destroy the God-given right of people to be free.  Unfortunately, freedom is threatened by every generation from the beginning of our country to the present.

Our ability to speak freely, vote, protect ourselves from a tyrannical government, and pursue a future we desire only exists from the inheritance we have received from the men and women who have defended those freedoms.

Those freedoms are now being challenged by those who ironically enjoy them too but choose to have collective amnesia and ingratitude to the gift bequeathed to them from the blood of others. College students have the right to protest on college campuses, turn a blind eye to their inheritance, and use what they have been given to promote a cause, which is the epitome of totalitarianism.   

Professors in universities spouting out nonsense about the systematic bigotry of marriage have equally been given the right to speak and have besmirched their inheritance by a false sense of entitlement they force down the throats of their naïve students.  

The justice system, once dedicated to law and order, is quickly becoming more corrupted to perpetuate a political movement punishing its political opponents under the cover of law.  This is just another example of how the profound gift of freedom handed to them through the dead bodies of their fellow citizens is squandered.

Memorial Day is more than a day to remember fallen soldiers’ sacrifices. It should be a day to remind us that our freedoms have been bestowed and are not to be ignored or wasted. The price is too high, and the pain and suffering are too deep.

Memorial Day is more than just a day; it should be a state of mind of every citizen, with everyone always being grateful and conscious that the gift given should never be taken for granted.