Reflections on Memorial Day

Every day — but especially on Memorial Day — I’m reminded what a privilege it is to serve in our nation’s military. On my daily commute, I pass along two sides of Arlington National Cemetery, hallowed ground where so much history and so much valor rests.

As I look out on the headstones, I’m often reminded of the last stanza of our national ballad, “America the Beautiful.” In it, Katharine Lee Bates reflects on America’s many blessings:

“O beautiful for patriot dreams
That sees beyond the years
Thine alabaster cities gleam
Undimmed by human tears!”

Arlington’s bright, white marble markers represent our very special blessing and our own alabaster city. Here, and in other national cemeteries around the world, we celebrate eternal spirit over death, undimmed by human tears.

{mosads}These alabaster cities are places of grief, but they also inspire us. We are a better America for the sacrifice of those who have served before us.  We will not forget. But it is not of the dead alone that we think on this day. There are those still living who also gave of themselves. We must never forget our nation’s brave and noble servants who returned home and are now facing the next challenges of their uncommon lives.

A grateful nation bears many responsibilities. And we must honor the memories of our missing, our fallen, and our returning by recommitting ourselves to the virtues for which they fought.

On Memorial Day, across our great nation, in crowded cities and country towns, grateful citizens will bow their heads in honor of our fallen heroes. Americans will remember. They will remember that the liberty we enjoy each and every day was made possible by the devotion and sacrifice of a long line of brave men and women in uniform.  And that line, my friends, has not grown shorter.

Today, America’s uniformed sons and daughters are still on patrol in Afghanistan, and on the many frontiers of freedom throughout the world. I am inspired each and every day by their sense of purpose, their personal courage, their character, and their competence. They represent the best of this great country. As a nation, we must always ensure that our military remains the best-led, best-trained, and best-equipped force on the face of this earth. We owe the living, the fallen, and those who remember them no less. Let us also use this Memorial Day to commit, to unite, to send a message to the entire military family: We thank you for your service, we are inspired by your sacrifice, and you can trust that we will always be there for you.

Today, I join everyone across this great land in honoring those who have willingly sacrificed while donning the cloth of the nation.

Let us renew and rededicate ourselves to the best of America … its freedom … its responsibility … its promise.
And may peace be our ultimate cause.

God bless our fallen, our missing, our veterans, and their families — may we be forever grateful.

Dempsey is the 18th chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.