I wanted to take a moment to share some thoughts on perhaps our most sacred of all secular holidays.  It’s Memorial Day weekend and this particular Memorial Day is unlike any we have seen in our nation’s history.

As each state begins to relax the restrictions related to the spread of COVID-19, I look out across the nation at our Veteran business owners, the first-responder community, and American patriots in general, and I see a courageous group that has held together and stood together throughout these past few difficult months.  We have all experienced loss.  Some of us have lost our jobs, some of us have lost our businesses, some of us have lost people dear to us.  

As a combat Persian Gulf War Veteran, I can say that our community of Veterans understands loss. Many of us understand the price of freedom as we have watched The flag draped over the casket of a brother or sister in arms. During Memorial Day I take time to remember those in my family and those with whom I served who are no longer with us. 

I wanted to share the story of my cousin, Admiral Sir Bertram Ramsay, of England.  Cousin ADM Ramsay fought bravely in WWII and was a leader during the famous Allied extraction effort known as Dunkirk, and the Admiral for the Allied invasion of Normandy.  Before the invasion of Normandy he stated ‘We shall require all the help that God can give us & I cannot believe that this will not be forthcoming.’ ADM Ramsay trusted God and served with honor the remainder of the War. 

In a cruel turn of fate, just one short year after winning one of the most important victories in the history of  liberty by defeating the evil Nazi empire, ADM Ramsay, my cousin, passed away in a plane crash leaving him with the title of The Forgotten Hero of World War II.  His story is not truly forgotten as it lives on in our family history, and now as I share it, it can live on through each of you. 

Decades later, on 12 October, 2000, an explosion on board the USS Cole took the lives of 17 service members.  Had that explosion happened just one year earlier, I quite possibly could have been of those victims.  Determined to never let those 17 members become “forgotten” like my cousin, Sir ADM Ramsay, I honor their sacrifice during this, and every, Memorial Day weekend.  Any chance I get I attend the Memorial for the USS Cole which now enters its 18th year.

There is no way to repay or bring back those heroes who have fallen or friends and family that we have lost. For many of us during this time we think of those who served alongside us and who have lost their lives not only to the enemy, but to their own hands.  They are just as much a casualty of war as was my cousin Sir ADM Ramsay, or the 17 on the USS Cole.  

It is healthy and enriching to grieve and honor our heroes for their service and dedication.  Their legacy has shown me the way and they inspire me everyday to overcome life‘s struggle.  I honor their sacrifice and willingness to give it all up for the sake of freedom. 

This Memorial Day, as America looks for the courage to reopen for business, I ask all freedom loving Veterans who with honor remember their oath, to join with me and wear your dog tags.  We will wear them for freedom, not for fashion.  It will serve as a reminder to every American as to why we fought.  Hopefully, seeing our tags will inspire others to stand and fight now to reclaim what we have lost over the past few months.  The courage and the resolve of the Veteran is needed now more than it has ever been.   

If you are reading this and you are not a Veteran, but you have the tags of one who has fallen or a relative who passed, I encourage you to put them on this weekend and join us.  It isn’t stolen valor if it’s intended to honor the valor of the man or women who wore the tags.  Honor your loved ones by resurrecting their spirit of service this Memorial Day 2020. 

This weekend, as we wear our tags, share our spirit, and remember those who have fallen, let us also remember that we are not a nation of red states and blue states.  To be sure, we are a nation of red and blue, but those colors are joined with white to represent the greatest nation on earth.  Let’s come together to celebrate and to work together to restore that greatness. 

Not for Fashion for freedom! 

In America and for the world!