CHARLESTON, W.Va. –
Beginning with a Civil War tradition of women’s groups gathering each year to decorate the graves of those whose lives were lost during that bloody conflict, Memorial Day has become a special holiday set aside to reflect on the service and sacrifices of the men and women of our armed forces.
While every Memorial Day is marked with solemn remembrance, this year marks the 75th anniversary of the end of WWII in 1945 and the historic victory of freedom and sovereignty over the tyranny and evil aggression of the Nazi and Fascist movements in Europe and the forces of the Japanese Empire in the Pacific.
It is important that we as individuals, families, communities, and as a nation, take time to mark and commemorate the sacrifices of those who served have made for us throughout our history, and the sacrifices of those who now serve make for us today. From the earliest days in American history, when our nation’s only armed force was the militia -- the Minutemen who volunteered to defend their newly-formed communities – men and women have volunteered to keep our nation free. It’s important that we pause today to reflect upon these sacrifices. We must remember the families they left behind, and the losses suffered by friends, employers, neighbors, and their extended community. Their loss, and the legacy of freedom they left behind, allows us to enjoy days like today.
To the Gold Star Families of our fallen patriots: we lack the words to describe what you feel on Memorial Day, because try as we may – as we must – we can never fully know it. But we do know what your sacrifice means to us, to our country, and to a world that still depends so much on America for its security.
Right now, nearly 1,700 West Virginia National Guard members are performing the work that stabilizes communities, advances national security objectives and ensures freedom in the homeland while we are also supporting the response to an unprecedented pandemic. Our men and women are prepared to lay their lives on the line for their State and Nation each day.
As Civil War veteran and Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes said one Memorial Day long ago, “Our dead brothers still live for us, and bid us think of life, not death – of life to which in their youth they lent the passion and joy of the spring.”
By honoring our fallen warriors – we honor their legacy of ensuring democracy, freedom, equality, and lasting peace prevails. On behalf of a grateful nation, we salute them, and pledge to never forget.