Memorial Day

Today is the day we remember all those veterans who fought to preserve what those of us take for granted "our freedom". Some will only think of today as an extra day off from work. Others will view today as the beginning of a summer full of cookouts and picnics. Then there will be those who will take the time to place the American flag on the grave of a fallen hero.

When I think of Memorial Day, I think of my grandfather. He did not fight in any foreign war but he kept up the fight on the homefront by working endless hours in a steel mill making weapons for the Navy.

He was also a very proud American and no matter where he was or what he was doing, if the National Anthem came on he stood up with hand placed over his heart.

He also saw two of his three sons enter the Army during the Korean War, one served in the war while the other served state side. He also experienced what it was like to be told his son was wounded in combat.

It was no accident that grandpop was so patriotic. He was raised by a very patriotic family, most especially his mother Mary Keller Gallagher whose own father fought in the Civil War and whose cousin fought with Custer at the Last Stand, The Battle of Little Big Horn.

I grew up being taught the importance of being an American. I remember the story of my great grandmother Mary Keller Gallagher and her daughter-in-law, my grandmother Anna McCaffery Gallagher how each and every Memorial Day they walked to the small German Lutheran Cemetery where Mary's father John Keller was buried and how they placed a flag on his grave while the veterans saluted the graves with gun fire shot across the graves of not only her father but all those German Immigrants who came to America and fought during the Civil War. My great grandmother Mary Keller Gallagher was a very proud American woman who raised her son to be a proud American man.

So on this Memorial Day of 2006, I want to take the time to remember all those who have fought for our country and who are currently fighting now and to tell them that there are still some of us who do remember what Memorial Day really stands for.