May 26th, 2025 by D. Paul Graham

Ever curious and always amused by the quirks of life, join D. Paul Graham each Monday for more M5T pondering.

**Saluting Sgt. Tanner Higgins, D Company 1st Ranger Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment. Sgt Higgins, 23, died April 14th, 2012 in Afghanistan. Photo by D. Paul Graham**

This week, as we got closer to the long weekend, I found myself thinking less about big box electronic sales and barbecues and more about names. Names etched in stone, carried on dog tags, and whispered through folded tear-stained letters. Memorial Day has always carried a certain weight of remembrance and reverence, but it isn’t just about looking back. It’s about how we carry forward. It’s about presence and gratitude for how we are able to live in this country. It’s about pressing pause on the comfort of our daily lives to acknowledge the price paid for our freedom by men and women we may never know. We’re not asked to repay the debt of lives given by others. We’re simply asked to remember it. This morning’s M5T respectfully reflects on Memorial Day.

1. FREEDOM IS NOT AN ACCIDENT. Freedom is our inheritance from the brave. We tend to think of freedom as permanent, like mountains or oceans, just because for the vast majority of those alive today, it’s just always been there. But it’s not. Freedom has been and continues to be maintained by vigilance and paid for in blood. Every right we enjoy, whether it’s speech, worship, protest, or peace, is secured by those who stood watch in the night, walked toward the sound of gunfire, and didn’t come home. “It is not the critic who counts. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena.” ~ Theodore Roosevelt. “Only the dead have seen the end of war.” ~ Plato. Memorial Day should not be about politics or policy. Today is about honoring those who said, “I will go,” when the world needed someone to stand up.

2. REMEMBRANCE IS NOT A MOMENT. Remembrance should be a mindset. Today at 3:00 pm local time, we will, or should, observe a minute of silence. But remembrance is more than silence. It’s sustained awareness. It’s choosing to carry the memory of the fallen into how we live our lives. It’s understanding that liberty was handed to us, not as a gift, but as a trust that has been bestowed on us. “A nation that does not honor its heroes will not long endure.” ~ Abraham Lincoln. “Our debt to the heroic men and valiant women in the service of our country can never be repaid. They have earned our undying gratitude.” ~ Harry S. Truman. This afternoon, take a quiet moment at 3:00 pm. But take it further than a minute. Let that remembrance move through your week, your month, and your year.

3. THE FALLEN WERE HUSBANDS, WIVES, SONS, DAUGHTERS, DREAMERS. We can easily reduce the fallen to uniforms and folded flags. But they were people. They had families, quirks, fears, and Friday night plans. They wrote letters home. They were our neighbors, and our co-workers. They missed birthdays. They had futures that were exchanged for our ability to live our lives. “They gave up two lives. The one they were living and the one they would have lived.” ~ Ronald Reagan. “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” ~ John 15:13. They were more than brave. They were human. And that’s what makes their sacrifice sacred.

4. GRATITUDE IS A FORM OF ACTION. If we truly want to thank the fallen, we must live lives worthy of their sacrifice. That means showing up. For our families, our communities, and our country. It means committing to our duty, even when it’s inconvenient. Memorial Day isn’t just a time to feel grateful. It’s a time to act grateful. "The legacy of heroes is the memory of a great name, and the inheritance of a great example." ~ Benjamin Disraeli. “Freedom makes a huge requirement of every human being. With freedom comes responsibility.” ~ Eleanor Roosevelt. Honor isn’t found in grand gestures. It’s in how we live with intention, with courage, with integrity.

5. THIS COUNTRY IS NOT TETHERED BY ARGUMENTS. We argue a lot in America. It’s part of the deal and for free speech as a right. The glue that binds the country together isn’t ideology. It’s the sacrifices made by others that are the foundation of this great country. Those that laid down their lives for this country didn’t ask who you voted for. They died for the ideal of The United States of America. They died for the promise of a republic that is worth believing in, and fighting for, even if it's still unfinished and imperfect. “Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.” ~ Winston Churchill. “It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather, we should thank God that such men lived.” ~ Gen. George S. Patton. Memorial Day is a quiet testament that this country, for all its flaws, is still worth defending.

Here's to celebrating Memorial Day with remembrance, reflection, and gratitude for those that paid the ultimate price defending and fighting for the freedom that we enjoy today.

For over 13 years, D. Paul Graham has published “Monday 5 Things” ™, also known to readers as M5T™. He continues to be thankful for the life lived here in the US.

Subscribe to “Monday 5 Things” by clicking here: www.Monday5Things.com

You can reach Paul by email at dpg@imagegraham.com

“Monday 5 Things” ™ and M5T™ are trademarks of D. Paul Graham

“Monday 5 Things” ….. Reflections for Memorial Day …..

“Monday 5 Things” ….. Roads, Clarity, & Momentum …..

“Monday 5 Things” ….. Permissions …..