Memorial Day first began in 1868 to commemorate the sacrifices made by Civil War soldiers who had lost their lives in the fight for freedom and the future of the United States.
Since that time, more wars put more fathers, mothers, sisters, brothers, friends, strangers and neighbors alike in the ground. Whether the war that took their lives was justified or not, valiant or not, necessary or not, the men and women who fought did so because our country asked them to. And our country owes them and their families a great debt it can never truly repay.
We still lose 25 veterans a day to suicide in the United States.
Agent Orange still claims the lives of Vietnam veterans each year, like my own father-in-law, who died in 2008 from non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
Often times on Memorial Day, though, we see only tombstones and forget the families still here, still mourning, still hurting, whose sacrifice can be just as great.
I ask that everyone take a few moments this Memorial Day to reach out to the family of a service member who’s no longer with us. Check in with your living veteran friends and help us make sure that no more veterans become casualties of the echoes of war.
I hope my commitment to being a strong financial supporter of the Monument to Women Veterans, Defenders of Freedom, the Wounded Warriors Project, and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund can serve as an example for all of those in our community with the means to help our heroes.
For my part, I plan to use my position as your next Congresswoman to serve those who have served, and see to it that the Promises Made to our military men and women are Promises Kept.
My first action, once elected, will be to bring a VA Hospital to Northwest Florida; while at the same time enhancing the VA Clinic services we currently have that leave so many military members and their families out in the cold.
Should the United States face another adversary where war comes to a vote, I will ask myself if I would be willing to die or send one of my children to die for this cause, because that’s what I would be asking every parent in this country with a “yes” vote.
We need elected officials who don’t see war as a game, invasion as an opportunity to advance economic interests, or the lives of our neighbors as expendable. We need leaders who have proven they understand the cost and would be willing to put their own lives ahead of others if necessary. That’s who I am and who I’ve proven myself to be.
Put politics aside and be a patriot. If not every day, make sure to do it this Memorial Day.
Original source can be found here.
