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Andrew Do - Supervisor, First District
May 25, 2015 Memorial Day
Why We Celebrate Memorial Day
Today, we honor those who sacrificed their lives in the name of freedom. We have parades. We attend ceremonies. We place flags on the graves of the fallen.

Yet, all of those actions seem hollow and inadequate, when compared to the gift we've received from generation after generation of American soldiers.

A century and a half ago, Abraham Lincoln struggled to consecrate the hallowed ground at Gettysburg. "But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate -- we can not consecrate -- we can not hallow -- this ground," the Great Emancipator said as he guided our nation through the Civil War. "The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract."

Words, too, failed Ronald Reagan in the 20th Century. "I have no illusions," Reagan said in a Memorial Day speech, "about what little I can add now to the silent testimony of those who gave their lives willingly for their country."

If the Great Emancipator and Great Communicator were rendered speechless by the gravity of this somber occasion, then how can we, mere mortals by comparison, be expected to remember this day? Maybe that's why we distract ourselves with super sales, car races and backyard barbecues. It's easier to occupy our minds with trivial things than contemplate the gravity of the statement: America is an ideal worth dying for.

But, even that statement isn't complete. For the annals of American history are filled with occasions when American soldiers have been laid to rest in far away lands, fighting for the freedoms of others. Forty-four hundred Allied troops landed at Normandy, never to return home. More than 58,000 U.S. troops died in Vietnam and bequeathed to me the endless opportunity that comes with American citizenship.

And the American soldier's sacrifices for you and me are ongoing and never-ending. Only one week ago, a 24-year old Navy sailor supporting Operation Inherent Resolve, the operation to eliminate the ISIL terrorist group, died in the United Arab Emirates.

Which brings us right back to the question: how can we honor these men and women? The truth is there isn't an appropriate measure of respect. But, Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes might have given us the best direction.

"Our dead brothers still live for us, and bid us think of life, not death," Justice Holmes said, in what's considered one of the greatest Memorial Day speeches. "As I listen, the great chorus of life and joy begins again, and amid the awful orchestra of seen and unseen powers and destinies of good and evil our trumpets sound once more a note of daring, hope, and will."

To the daring men and women who we remember on this Memorial Day, we sound trumpets with our simple words, "Thank you."

Sincerely,
Andrew Do
Supervisor, First District
Orange County Board of Supervisors
 
Copyright 2015 County of Orange, California
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