Summer is almost here. While we enjoy the fresh clean air of May, prepare our yards for the summer and watch children play, let us never forget the sacrifices made to ensure our freedoms.
The official start of the summer season is Memorial Day — a day when Americans stop to remember and honor those men and women who made the supreme sacrifice, giving their lives, defending our nation and our freedoms.
May is a wonderful month, even with the dandelions. Warm weather, even some rain, is most welcome. Picnics, barbecues, vacations, even “stay-cations,” swimming at the beach or pool, boating, fishing and more are in store.
But we must be aware of possible protests and disruptions of everyday activities. Our Constitution guarantees the right to protest peacefully, and is one of the freedoms we have. Too often these protests are not peaceful and that is not what the Constitution says. That right to protest has been defended by those Americans who served in the military, some of whom died defending those rights.
Every Memorial Day we stop to remember and honor those who died. Men and women of all racial, ethnic and religious backgrounds have served and too often given their lives to defend our freedoms.
With the current push to change the definitions of words and phrases, to clarify some agenda and the cancel culture to eliminate everything some people don’t like, the America we grew up in is being destroyed. The Constitution is under attack, with some saying it is outdated. Written centuries ago, it doesn’t reflect the needs of society today.
Freedom and liberty is what it stands for — if those aren’t today’s needs I don’t know what is.
Our founding fathers gave us a system of government where “we the people” had a significant — if not total say — in how our country was to be run. While not perfect, it also provided a way to improve it, peacefully, not by violent protests and rioting. We need honest discussions and debate, with proven facts and not-altered ideas or false statements.
This is what Americans want, what those who served in the military defended. And this is what those who gave their lives for.
We must remember those sacrifices, the ultimate price paid for our freedoms, and honor the memory of those heroes. That is what Memorial Day means. As we start the summer, let us never forget – freedom is not free, it never was, it never will be.
Herb Dettmer is a retired Bowling Green resident, U.S. Army veteran and writes this column representing the viewpoint of “Joe Average” citizen. He is freelance writer and author of “Others,” a devotional book. Call or text “Joe” with comments at 419-494-4641.
