In Memory

Memorial Day is the day set aside to appreciate, value and remember those of our citizens who have died serving our country. Our nation. Our society. Our way of life. The military men and women who gave their lives so we could live free and prosper are the focus of our attention this day.

And well-remembered they should be. Imagine the sacrifice, the pain, the sorrows of their families and loved ones! Imagine the loss of their presence going forward among us. And yet, they are among us. We live open, free lives because they cared.

On this Memorial Day, I would like to expand our recall of special people who gave their lives so we can live the way we wish. Let us take a look at those we have lost in the name of unfettered ownership of guns, ammunition, and right to carry. Remember the carnage in classrooms, shopping malls, nightclubs, street corners, expressways and movie theaters. Recall the lives lost in those settings. Feel the impact of that bullet as it tears into the body of the person next to you. A child. An old woman. A young man, father of two. A mother, pregnant with her second child. Feel the fear of life ebbing away for them.

One moment alive, vibrant, doing things just like you and I do. Suddenly, the peace is shattered. A gun fires. A handgun, a hunting rifle, an assault weapon. Does it matter which? The explosion of the weapon being fired gets our attention. Then the shock as you are hit, or the lady next to you falls to the grown with a muffled scream.

The pain sears through your consciousness. The moaning beside you is the sound of pain of that victim. Until it silences. The victim does not move. Does not breathe. He/she is dead. Not to be again.

Your pain is knowing you are alive, they are dead, you feel pain, they do not. Ever again.

And why? Because brave men and women fought wars and chaos to preserve our way of life. Did they? Is this what they signed up for? They were trained to fight. They were drilled in battle. They knew how to defend themselves and were equipped to do so. Even so, they lost their lives so we could live ours.

But this way? To be mown down by free people? People who are free to carry a gun, walk anywhere with it and threaten our freedoms.

This is not a battlefield. Or is it? Is that what our Founding Fathers intended? I don't think so. I don't think they could even imagine the outcome we live with every day. Every day.

Little children are drilled on how to protect themselves in the classroom should a person with a gun present himself in their classroom. Armed guards patrol the school hallways. Armed guards patrol stores and shopping malls. Really, did our military personnel fight and risk everything for this?

I don't think so. I don't believe most of you believe so either. 

So what are we waiting for? Why are we not electing people who will protect us from this madness?

I'm waiting. Still waiting.

May God bless each and every military person who gave their life to protect us. And may God bless each and every victim of gun violence in our streets of the free and the brave.

I'm still waiting.

May 30, 2022


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