For many people, Memorial Day weekend ushers in the warm, fun-filled days of summer. Young people are out of school or about to attend their last classes before the long vacation period. Adults look forward to outdoor recreation and, perhaps, a week or two off from work. Special activities such as this weekend's Ogden Newspapers Half Marathon Classic Run and Walk are anticipated eagerly.
But this weekend is more than a time for carefree recreation. Memorial Day is Monday, and it is an occasion for somber reflection on what our liberty and prosperity have cost.
More than 1.2 million American men and women have paid with their lives for the freedom we enjoy - and too often take for granted.
To the fallen, we owe everything. Without them, the United States of America would not have become a nation. Without them liberty for all would not be a reality. Without them our enemies, foreign and domestic, would have overcome us.
Throughout the Ohio Valley this weekend, primarily on Monday, events in memory of our fallen defenders will be held. They are organized almost exclusively by veterans' organizations, members of which understand the cost of freedom all too well. These comrades in arms of the fallen are unflagging in their observances of Memorial Day.
If at all possible, please join them in their observances, and ponder the meaning of the day.
