Since 1775, approximately 848,163 Americans have died in combat, with an additional 437,421 who died in uniform under other circumstances during a war.  That’s a little over 1.3 million people who paid for our freedoms with their lives.  That seems like a lot, but consider that at this moment there are a little over 300 million people in the United States.  One half of one percent of the number of people who live in our country right now have laid down their lives for us and our children.

This is a debt we can never repay, but one that we can honor.

I honor the fallen by remembering them, by doing my best to live so that their sacrifice has meaning, and by raising the next generation to continue the tradition.

For those who have come before, you will not be forgotten so long as there is life in the last American.  For those who were left behind, we will always be there to help where the lost husband, father, son, daughter, mother, and wife would have been.  For those who are yet to come, we will be there to teach you our history and the duty we have to remember and honor those to whom we owe so much.