Many of us made the ultimate sacrifice for the rest of us. Do you think of those men and women? What would you say to such a person?

I've been given the honor of being the grand marshall and keynote speaker at our communities Memorial Day parade and ceremony this year, so I've spent quite a bit of time thinking of your and similiar questions the past few weeks. I am aware of relatives who have served in the Revolution, the Civil War, WWII, Vietnam and Iraq. Most survived, but my uncle was killed in WWII and I lost 104 men I had served or trained with during Vietnam. As I reviewed a list of my friends from Vietnam, I realized their memories are never far from my mind. I have received calls from sons and daughters who were infants and toddlers when their fathers died, asking me for my memories of what their father did in his last days, what kind of life he lived and what kind of man and friend he was. You can never forget. As I thought of them in preparation for Monday, I actually thought about what meeting with them would be like today. I realized then that they were mostly young men that loved life. We partied, worked and worried together and lived a life together that many people never have the opportunity to experience. That will be the core of my speech Monday. I don't imagine our reunion today would be much different from when they were alive. We would relive those old experiences, catch up on what is new, eat a hamburger and open a cold one, happy that we weren't drinking warm PBR from rusty cans as we did before they died.

PVT Mark Brown I will attend a Memorial Day Observance, like I do every year. My father died serving our country, and I lost buddies in Vietnam. I think about them and others throughout the year.

I'll be doing a ceremony with my Cadets at Dartmouth College, and take every opportunity to remember the brothers that I wish were there with me.
Sometime though, I do enjoy a cold one on the day, just as they would want me to do. I hold my kids close, because I want to live the life some of them helped make sure I got to have.
I will be somber in my thanks, but joyful in my remembrance.