Don't forget the fallen on Memorial Day

America celebrates Memorial Day this weekend, a long-running and, in the past, controversial holiday eventually made official by President Lyndon Johnson in 1966.

The purpose of the holiday is to remember our nations fallen servicemen and women who have died in the defense of these United States.

The weekend also unofficially ushers in the beginning of the summer vacation season with local parades, picnics, camping and road trips, baseball games and, less often, trips to cemeteries to honor the fallen.

More than 4.5 million people are forecast to travel this year during the holiday weekend, according to the American Automobile Association.

And while those millions travel, recreate and generally enjoy the freedoms that are taken for granted by most Americans, there are hundreds of thousands of U.S. service members serving somewhere overseas, according to the Department of Defense.

That’s an important number.

With the notable exception of the sneak attack on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese Imperial Navy on Dec. 7, 1941, and the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and attempts on other targets, the United States for the most part has managed to keep violence at arm’s length.

The 1917 song “Over There” that was popular in both world wars sums up what our military continues to do for us every day:

“Over there, over there. Send the word, send the word over there, that the Yanks are coming … Send the word, send the word to beware — we’ll be coming, we’re coming over, and we won’t be back till it’s over, over there.”

Not here, but over there.

Over there, those hundreds of thousands of men and women are prepared — or are actually engaged in — keeping bad people from our doorstep. The fighting, the mayhem, the roadside bombs and suicide bombers, and other bad players; all are pretty much over there. Not here.

While we each celebrate the holiday in our own way this weekend, those hundreds of thousands of young Americans are serving as the watchmen mentioned in the Old Testament, which states, in Isaiah 62:6, “I have posted watchmen on your walls, Jerusalem; they will never be silent day or night.”

Most return home from their watch on the walls.

Some do not.

Here’s another, more important number, and arguably the purpose of the Memorial Day holiday: Between 1775, and 10 a.m., May 16, 2019, 656,449 American service members have died in America’s wars and skirmishes, according to the Department of Defense.

That’s enough people to fill the city of Spokane — three times.

And let’s not forget the other 1.5 million that were wounded.

So, as you relax this long Memorial Day weekend, don’t forget to at least say a prayer of thanks for those who have given their lives in the defense of America. And if you know of any, say thanks to the mothers and fathers, the wives, husbands and children who lost a loved one while they served and died on the walls defending their country — and your day off from work, and the relative freedom to do with it as you wish.

The freedom you enjoy isn’t free, but comes at a great and ongoing cost that, thankfully, you may never have to pay because of those who have.

If you can’t or won’t serve in the defense of America, at least pay your respects to those who have while you enjoy your freedom.

And whatever you do, don’t take it for granted.

Lee Hughes can be reached at [email protected].