Good morning, John, it’s Paul Eaton.

There’s a poem by Laurence Binyon titled “For the Fallen” with a line I often return to on Memorial Day.

"They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:

Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.

At the going down of the sun and in the morning

We will remember them."

It was published in another time, and another country — in 1914, the first year of what was then called “The War to End All Wars.” But its message is in no way diminished all these years later.

So many families have lost a son or daughter, a brother or sister, or a mother or father in service to our country. Even mine.

A long time before VoteVets, before I joined the Army, I was raised on Air Force bases. My father’s name was Norman Eaton, and he was a pilot. In January of 1969 he and his co-pilot Paul Getchell went down in Laos.

For decades they were MIA, Missing in Action, until 2003. After a joint search between the US and Laotian governments, a team found his and Paul’s remains. And in 2007, my father was buried at Arlington alongside thousands of his comrades in arms.

If you’d like to read more about that story, here’s an article: NBC News, “In Laos, sifting the earth for American dead.”

For the thousands of Gold Star families, today isn’t a day to be celebrated. It is a day to remember. I hope you reflect on the sacrifices that so many have made today.

To me, the best way to honor them is by working together to make this country a better place — one they would be proud of.

Thank you for being a part of that work.

Paul Eaton