More than a million soldiers, sailors, and marines have laid down their lives for the cause of self-governance and in defense of our republic’s Constitution.

It is undoubtedly easier to enjoy a beer and burger in the backyard than to reflect on the sacrifices made on our behalf – often before we were ever born, by men who would only be known as “the uncle who died in the war.”

Yet reflect, dwell, and consider we must. If we are to give up our liberties and adorn our ankles with the soft chains of tyranny, what was the point of their sacrifice. Did they die for a lost cause, or to give us the opportunity to be better, to be more?

I choose to believe our best days as a republic are ahead of us, and that our honored dead paid for that future with their lives. Let’s not squander their gift.