EDITORIAL: More than a long weekend

It feels like each year we become a little more disconnected from what Memorial Day truly represents. 

But this year feels different. 

Since the beginning of the war in Iran, the United States has suffered 15 casualties tied to combat and operations. Fifteen men and women who won’t experience another three-day weekend with their families, friends, and communities. Fifteen people who won’t fire up a grill, go camping, or toss a cornhole bag on a warm afternoon. 

For some, honoring Memorial Day means reaching back through generations to understand their connection to sacrifice. For others, the loss is immediate—raw, fresh, and still unfolding. They are only beginning the difficult process of learning how to carry it. 

For many of us, though, Memorial Day has come to mean something lighter: hot dogs and cold beer, NASCAR and sales, or simply the welcome sight of summer arriving for families with children in school. There’s nothing inherently wrong with these traditions. But we carry a responsibility to remember the reason they exist at all—the men and women who gave their lives so we could enjoy them. 

It’s easy to put on star-spangled clothing, head out on the water, snap a photo, and feel like the moment has been honored. But that isn’t enough. And the truth is, nothing ever really will be. 

What we can do is choose to feel something. Read a story, visit a cemetery, watch a film, or take a quiet moment of reflection—whatever it takes to stir a sense of connection. Seek out even a small measure of empathy for those who have lost a parent, child, sibling, or friend, and allow that feeling to linger. 

For many families, this weekend is not a celebration but a test of strength and faith. Distractions—camping trips, fishing, and gatherings—can make it easier to set grief aside. And we shouldn’t abandon those traditions. But we should ensure that somewhere in the midst of them, we pause to honor the fallen. 

Memory alone is not enough. We must live in a way that reflects their sacrifice. To celebrate them is not just to look back, but to carry their legacy forward—through gratitude, through purpose, and through the way we choose to use the freedom they secured. 

Remember those fifteen soldiers who gave everything. 

Because freedom has a cost, even when we don’t see it. 

“It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced.” — President Abraham Lincoln, Gettysburg Address