While it’s always appropriate to show honor and appreciation to members of the military, I want to provide this reminder to my readers: today is not Veteran’s Day. It is the one day each year that we come together in reverence to commemorate the Honored Dead. We commiserate with the Gold Star families, old and new, who have paid the ultimate price to ensure that the United States of America will endure.

As Americans, it’s important to acknowledge the sacrifices of the men and women in uniform that died to defend her. Civil society only survives in a world of violence and tyranny if there are rough men ready to do violence on our behalf.

In his 1982 Memorial Day speech at Arlington National Cemetery, President Ronald Reagan reminds us of the ultimate cost of freedom:

“Yet, we must try to honor them—not for their sakes alone, but for our own. And if words cannot repay the debt we owe these men, surely with our actions we must strive to keep faith with them and with the vision that led them to battle and to final sacrifice.

Our first obligation to them and ourselves is plain enough: The United States and the freedom for which it stands, the freedom for which they died, must endure and prosper. Their lives remind us that freedom is not bought cheaply. It has a cost; it imposes a burden. And just as they whom we commemorate were willing to sacrifice, so too must we—in a less final, less heroic way—be willing to give of ourselves.”

I provide a nationally-syndicated political commentary across America on the Salem Radio Network. I hope you’ll take a moment to listen to my Memorial Day commentary. And as you do, take a moment to remember the ultimate sacrifice paid by so many in the name of freedom.

Originally posted at The Strident Conservative

David Leach is the owner of The Strident Conservative, your source for opinion that’s politically-incorrect and always “right.” His articles are also featured on RedState.com.

His daily radio commentary is nationally syndicated with Salem Radio Network and can be heard on stations across America.