Sixty seconds at 3 pm...

As we come up on this weekend, Memorial Day weekend, most are all excited about having 3 or 4 days off.  Lots are planning picnics, mini-vacations and visiting, celebrating, with family and friends.  I myself am already committed to a "big party" this weekend.  I'm betting most of my readers don't even know that we are supposed to have a moment of silence at 3 pm on Monday for all those that have died in service of this country, in service of freedom.  Furthermore, I bet only one or two realize it is technically Federal law.  We have moved so far away from about what Memorial Day is, why and for whom, that we cannot even appreciate the sacrifices that those that have died have given.

Yes, a moment of silence at 3 pm Monday.  We almost all have cell phones now.  Alarm yourself at 2:59 pm to remind you to take 60 seconds at 3 pm.  Sixty seconds to consider the lives we sacrificed for freedom in combat (these are combat statistics only and do not include all US military losses during those years):

1.  In WWI, 53.4K Americans.
2.  In WWII, 291.6K Americans.
3.  In Korea (during actual action prior to truce), 33.1K Americans.
4.  In Vietnam, 44.7K Americans.
5.  In Desert Storm, 148 Americans.
6.  Current War on Terror, 6.7K Americans (latest count in 2013)

During the Civil War, we sacrificed over 215K Americans on both sides.

Put the rhetoric away.  We haven't sacrificed as many Americans, not even close, to what our grandparents sacrificed in WWII or what our great-great grandparents did to preserve our great country.  Just consider how important each and everyone one of those military members sacrifice is.  Consider theirs and their families' sacrifice:

Consider that almost all of them had a mother and father and grandparents that loved them.
Consider that given the average size of families, almost every single one had siblings that would never hear them laugh again.
Consider on an average well over half of them had spouses and families of their own.
Consider how important it must be for their sacrifices to not be in vain.

Oh, I know.  That's why we should end the war.  Stop.  Focus on what I'm stating.  We have always sacrificed ours for the greater good.  That's what makes us American.  This day, this Memorial Day is about the hollowed ground that those great sacrifices mean.  It means our freedom.  It means others' freedom.

Remember that because of those sacrifices:

Europe is not a Nazi state.
South Korea still has its independence and freedom.
Japan has flourished as a non-warring state.
Kuwait is still independent.
The 240K Iraqi men, women and children that were slaughtered between Desert Storm and 9/11 because they spoke out against (the parents did anyway) Saddam Hussein's regime, were vindicated.
The United States exists because of the Founding Fathers that fought.
The United States still exists because of those Civil War service members.

Stop and think whether you would make those sacrifices yourself.  During the draft of the Vietnam War, there was no choice.  Consider that our grandparents didn't need a draft.  Men and women flocked to help the war effort during World War Two.

I have no doubt of those sacrifices and what they mean.  We all need to understand what those sacrifices are for.  Don't just thank a service member for their service.  Consider that every single one that you have met in the last 40 years did so of their own volition.  No draft.  And always a promise that tomorrow might be their last.  That next week might bring orders to deploy.  That orders might mean that some of them don't return, and yes, that the one that doesn't return might be them.

Is it really that much for you to interrupt your picnic and give the respect to those that have sacrificed for freedom?  Or is it that it has to only be for the freedom that you enjoy?  If so, fine, we still sacrificed hundreds of thousands just for our own country's freedom, the freedoms that you enjoy even today.

Sixty seconds at 3 pm on Monday afternoon.  It shouldn't be that much to ask.