- Rob Maness - https://www.robmaness.com -

The Last Full Measure

Memorial Day is a day of remembrance for my family and I.  Military cemeteries are full of Gold Star families today so we take this day to be remember all those Americans who have given the last full measure of devotion to us. We are not sad on this day, but very grateful, and humbled by their sacrifice. Today, we will do all the things other families do like barbecue, go to the beach, or attend a family picnic, and we’ll make sure we say a prayer of thanks for all those lost in service to our Country, and their family’s sacrifice for us. They would want us to enjoy this day and remember them by enjoying our freedoms, even in times of uncertainty.

Every day is memorial day to those of us who’ve served and lost friends in war. I think of my friends laid to rest at Arlington and over sites around the world every single day. That is how I honor them. But I set aside today and follow my personal tradition of reading the haunting poem, In Flanders Fields, to remind myself why we honor our sacred dead:

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

by: Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, MD, a Canadian poet, physician, author, artist and soldier during World War I.

So as you go about your day, please remember the fallen and their families for a few moments, and have a lot of fun celebrating the gift of the United States of America they have given us all. Check out my video Memorial Day Message:

Memorial Day 2020 [2]