Dear John,

In Minnesota, the long Memorial Day weekend often serves as the kickoff to summer. Many head to their cabins and lake getaways while others gather in their backyards for picnics with neighbors, family, and friends.

But in cemeteries across our great state, many will gather early tomorrow morning in ceremonies big and small to pause and reflect on those real American heroes who gave their lives for our country. In dedicated service that spans generations, these heroic men and women put country first. They believed in a purpose greater than themselves and died for something much bigger than you and me.

As the sound of “Taps” can be heard from hillside to valley across our great land tomorrow morning, please take a moment to pause, reflect, and say a prayer. For on Memorial Day, we salute those who made the ultimate sacrifice. On Memorial Day, we express our heartfelt gratitude and think of the families and friends these American heroes left behind.

And we remind ourselves how blessed we are to be free, in a land of liberty, hope, and opportunity whose foundation was built on the courage and conviction of the very people we are honoring.

May God bless you. And may God continue to bless America.