Op-Ed by Ralph Massullo | Citrus County Chronicle
Tomorrow is Memorial Day. So often we wake up in the mornings and are so preoccupied with our own plans and issues that we fail to realize the significance of any particular day on the calendar. But this day is uniquely significant, because it is set aside as a remembrance for the men and women who gave up their lives so we have that very freedom that allows us the liberty to direct our own. Without their sacrifice we most likely would wake to a world of tyranny where we would have no freedom and where our lives would be directed and controlled by some evil foreign power. Since the beginning of our great nation more than 1,360,000 American men and women have died so you and I could enjoy the freedom we so often take for granted. Their uniforms and equipment have changed over the years, but their altruistic spirit of self-sacrifice, duty, courage, love of family and country remains immutable. They are our true heroes and heroines. We honor them today in memorial by remembering them. Can we not honor their sacrifice by being better patriots ourselves? Can we not try to be a little less consumed with ourselves and little more concerned with our fellow Americans? Yes, it takes work and it isn’t easy, but the best tribute we could give those who gave their all for us is a better and brighter America that will be a light to the world of what a free people can accomplish. It is often said that ‘today is the first day of the rest of your life’. For those who gave up that privilege for us, let us honor them in how we live our tomorrows…and never forget Memorial Day!