Sacrifice Deserves Respect

I was driving back home over Memorial Day Weekend when I came across a radio commercial that actually offended me.

Being offended is not something that happens to me often, yet I couldn’t help feeling that this ad crossed a line. My memory is a little hazy (the weekend included a bachelor party and a college reunion) but it went something like this:

“Blah blah blah While you are busy remembering whatever it is we’re supposed to be remembering this weekend blah blah blah buy something you don’t need.”

Whatever we are supposed to be remembering this Memorial Day? Oh, you mean the thousands upon thousands of men and women who sacrificed their lives for this country? Yeah, I think that is what we are supposed to focus on here.

Holidays like Memorial Day seem to just mean a three-day weekend to many people. It means so much more to those who have lost fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, grandfathers, grandmothers, cousins, aunts, uncles and friends.

My grandfather proudly served in the Marines and was fortunate to make it back. There are so many other grandchildren who never got to hug a grandparent because they never came home from the battlefield. We cannot forget how many people have been affected by war.

Our lives are precious and only come in a single serving.

To think that there are people out there putting that on the line to protect those they love is awe-inspiring. Whatever your opinion is on politics and warfare, you cannot deny the bravery it takes to serve one’s country so completely.

Sacrifices should not be forgotten or easily dismissed in some radio commercial. Men and women gave their lives to protect our own and the least we can do is honor their memory.

The nonchalant manner in which that commercial portrayed Memorial Day truly rubbed me the wrong way. To dismiss a holiday as another day off, and not a time to reflect on the sacrifices of our own people, is the lowest of the low.

This week has seen countless parades and observances to honor our fallen. I feel the least each of us can do in return is maintain that level of respect in our minds, hearts and apparently advertising.

Too bad I can't remember what that commercial was about so I could avoid whatever it was they were selling. The one good thing it did was remind me of the importance of respect, and how much it means to maintain it in any medium.

No other person deserves more respect than those who now rest in graves in the name of freedom.