What We Owe the Fallen: A Memorial Day Reflection
Memorial Day 2025
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I’ve never known a soldier, intelligence officer, diplomat, or public servant who asked their fellow Americans whether they were Democrat, Republican, or Independent before standing beside them in service.
Those who have served didn’t ask if their fellow warriors were Muslim, Jewish, Christian, atheist, agnostic, LGBTQ+, or of a particular race or ethnicity before putting their lives on the line. They protected one another and the nation not because they all believed the same things but because they believed in something bigger: the Constitution of the United States.
They served under oath. They died for each other—and for us. That truth should humble us all. On Memorial Day, solemnity is not optional. It is part of the fabric of remembrance.
Each person who gave their life in uniform died defending the Constitution—not a party, not a politician, not a slogan. They died for the secular, pluralistic values that still make America worth believing in: liberty, dignity, and difference—a republic for all.
But those values are under threat—from within. Our laws are disregarded. Congress abdicates its constitutional role. And our courts are increasingly burdened as authoritarian ideology spreads on the far right, turning civic unity into tribal dogma.
These threats aren’t abstract. They are happening in real time.
Over the past four months, we’ve seen how fragile our national experiment is. Billionaires are tightening their grip on the levers of power, undermining institutions that upheld America’s global leadership for decades—politically, economically, and culturally.
The abandonment of democratic allies in Europe, Canada, and elsewhere reminds us what happens when greed, partisanship, and disinformation outweigh loyalty to the country and Constitution.
Disinformation—both foreign and domestic—has fueled division. Yet in quiet defiance of the chaos, record numbers of young Americans still enlist, hoping this country can be unified again by truth and purpose.
Even within the military, 2024 saw rising concerns about extremism, conspiracy theories, and ideological mistrust. Yet most continue to serve with honor, humility, and a willingness to defend the rights of those they disagree with.
We are still capable of great courage.
But lately, we’ve begun to lose something more profound—something the fallen entrusted to us: dignity, integrity, neighborliness, civil disagreement, and shared reality. We’ve traded unity for tribalism and fact for feeling—not out of malice but because we are overwhelmed, distracted, and afraid.
Fear is how soft tyranny takes root.
In the 19th century, Alexis de Tocqueville warned us about this. He called it soft despotism—a creeping force that doesn’t crush from above but numbs from within. “It compresses, enervates, extinguishes, and stupefies a people,” he wrote. Not with violence. With apathy. With the quiet erosion of courage.
But Tocqueville also believed the cure wasn’t found in politics but in what he called “habits of the heart.”
So ask yourself: What’s truly in our hearts this Memorial Day?
Do we still believe in liberty and justice for all? Do we still honor truth over propaganda, integrity over identity, courage over cynicism?
Can we still be moved by the quiet valor of those who never came home—not for a party or a paycheck, but for a principle?
We must renew our commitment to one another. We must be shepherds of the republic—not the ruled but the responsible. Not the passive but the principled. Not the divided but the determined.
Let us draw inspiration from their unity—and strive to build our own.
Let us resist the siren song of fear-based politics—on the left or the right—and remember that our greatest strength has never come from sameness but from shared purpose in the face of difference.
Let’s remember the words of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow:
“All your strength is in your union; all your danger is in discord; therefore, be at peace henceforward, and as brothers [and sisters] live together.”
So today, whether you gather with friends or sit silently, speak of what still unites us. Remember the values that endure. Reflect on how our generation’s legacy will be remembered—and whether we lived in a way that honored those who died for us.
Because remembering isn’t passive.
It’s a responsibility—a sacred trust.
And it’s the least we can do—one day each year—for those who gave everything.
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