Fellow Republicans,
Memorial Day is a solemn reminder of the cost of freedom.
Memorial Day 2020 will be unlike any our nation has ever experienced. For the first time since the observance began as Decoration Day following the Civil War, we will not gather for ceremonies, wreath layings and parades to honor our nation’s fallen.
While we may be separated physically, we are united in gratitude and respect for all those who wore the uniform and made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom. The lessons of their bravery and selfless acts of courage have even more meaning during this unique time. Their stories must live on so all of us can continue to learn from them.
Early in my military career, I was taught that on this day, we must tell the stories of those who fought and died in freedom’s cause. We must tell their stories because those who’ve lost loved ones need to know that a grateful Nation will always remember. We must tell their stories so that our children and grandchildren will understand what our lives might have been like had it not been for their sacrifice.
Today I would like to tell my story of remembrance. I hope you will tell yours and remember our nation's heroes.
My Personal Journal, (Undisclosed location, August 7, 2012)
It was a day I will long remember...but when I woke early to get to work, I had no idea my day would end the way it did. It was a typically busy day that was long and arduous, and I was looking forward to the dinner hour so I could take a leisurely hour to myself when we received a message that three fallen warriors were heading our way. As soon as I heard, I stopped breathing for a split second. I knew that three families back home in the United States probably just got the most dreadful news that their husband, son, father, cousin, brother was killed in action today... these warrior have paid the "last full measure of devotion" to our nation. I said a silent prayer for the rest of the evening as our base prepared to receive them on their way home.
A group of us gathered in the dark hours of the night on the ramp of our base to watch the C-17 download its melancholy cargo. Three flag draped coffins that held my brothers...they were brothers I never met, but they were my brothers, nonetheless. Our honor guard dressed in battle uniforms and boots went to their methodical work. I was amazed by the practiced ritual and repetition as we carefully rendered quiet and dignified honors to our fallen brothers. I swear as we moved the coffins one by one (to be housed here at this base for mere hours as the next plane was preparing for the long journey to American soil), I swear that even though we were standing out in the warm night air in a faraway and strange land, I was certain that every single service member out there could hear my hearting beating its loud and mournful cadence, openly sobbing, virtually breaking for these young men and the families they left behind. I realized that it was not my heart after all. I realized that as we all collectively held our breath for those long, painful minutes, the beat I heard actually was the tread of the boots of the honor guard members, solemnly carrying our brothers to a temporary holding area until we could get them ready for their flight home.
There is no fanfare here. No bugles, no parades, no pageantry. Just profound and deafening quiet, respect, and above all...dignity. Rendering honors to a fallen brother or sister is perhaps the most humbling duty I have, I am so proud to do so and at the same time, never hope to ever do it again. But it is the business we are in, it is evitable. Dreadful and inevitable. So as we slowly raise our salutes, a million thoughts race through my minds. Do my fellow Americans truly understand the price we are paying for freedom? Do the families, friends, and loved ones know how much these warriors are loved and cared for by their brothers and sisters around the world, especially on their long journey home? And most of all, did our fallen warriors understand the magnitude of honor and respect their nation has for them and everything they have sacrificed?
I am positive the answer to all these questions are "yes, absolutely." And I believe it because it is what keeps me going. As I look around and see so many young Airmen out here on the tarmac, most of whom CHOSE to be up past midnight to render honors to these brothers they never met and 100% of them are voluntarily serving our country in uniform (voluntarily!!!), I realize that our nation is in good hands. This is not just "another salute" for us. No, this is not just "another somber prayer" for us, either. This is another family's life shattered and another necessary and reverent ritual for my fellow warriors.
Farewell, my fallen brothers. And I promise you that your story will be told. FREEDOM IS NOT FREE. God Bless you, God Bless your families you leave behind, and God Bless the United States of America.
In service,
Colonel Shirlene D. Ostrov, USAF (ret)
Chairman
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