MEMORIAL DAY PARADE

MEMORIAL DAY SERVICE AT THE
BETHLEHEM VETERANS MEMORIAL PARK

As we reflect on the meaning of Memorial Day, countless images come to mind-the changing of the guard at Arlington Cemetery's Tomb of the Unknowns; the monument of the marines raising Old Glory atop Mt. Suribachi in Iwo Jima; the pictures of thousands of troops coming ashore at Normandy; families and friends sketching the names of their loved ones at the Vietnam Wall. 

This year I have another image -- a family, a young widow and infant daughter -- hundreds of friends and strangers filling a church grieving one of our own -- U.S. Army Capt. Timothy Moshier who died in Iraq on April 1. 2006.
These images serve as a constant reminder of those who have made the supreme sacrifice and we must always remember that our freedoms, those we enjoy every day, are a result of the sacrifices made by so many. Freedom is not free.

The 20th century -- the World Wars, Korean War, Vietnam War and the Persian Gulf War claimed over 620,000 of our fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, aunts and uncles-and moving into the 21st century with the War on Terrorism and the Iraq War, over 2,700 American lives have been lost. We gather today to remember those fallen heroes who laid their lives down for the freedoms we enjoy. Our hearts go out today to our departed heroes and the families and friends they have left behind. We owe them-we must give meaning to the sacrifices that they have made.

We gain strength from what our heroes have done. All too often when we leave the parades, the Memorial Day commemorations -- we can take for granted or even forget for a time all of those who have lost their lives to ensure we have the homes we have -- the freedoms we have -- the privileges we have -- or take for granted those men and women who are still deployed today, away from their families and friends -- who remain in harms way. We are blessed with many privileges -- do not forget those who died, who have been injured, who have sacrificed -- to give us those privileges.

The following words are inscribed at Arlington National Cemetery -- "Not for fame or reward, not for place or rank, not lured by ambition or goaded by necessity, but in simple obedience to duty as they understood it, these men suffered all, sacrificed all, dared all -- and died." We owe them and we must remember them -- and I ask you to especially remember the families of Sgt. Thomas Robbins who died in Iraq on February 9, 2004 and US Army Capt. Timothy Moshier who died on April 1. May God bless them and all of America's heroes. 

Happy Memorial Day.