This Memorial Day is more than just remembering. On the eve our nation’s 250th birthday, made possible because of the sacrifices of those patriots who took up arms to defend freedom and the American way of life, we must take the opportunity for true reflection beyond simply pausing to remember those who fell in war.
Memorial Day should be more than just remembering. It has to be. The memory of those Americans who purchased the blessings we enjoy demands more. Their example and their gift of freedom, at the cost of all their own futures, asks that we don’t confine the memory of these great Americans to a momentary pause and reflection.
This Memorial Day, we can and must do more than carry the memory of those who fell in service to our nation. The moment, and this day, calls on each of us to examine ourselves and ask if we are worthy of the price they paid for our freedom.
‘You are Worth It’
Medal of Honor recipient Marine Cpl. Kyle Carpenter wrote a book about this question. His book, “You are Worth it: Building a Life Worth Fighting For” was borne of a happenstance conversation with an Uber driver who was originally from Pakistan. Carpenter is the youngest Marine to be awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions in Afghanistan in 2010 when he leapt on a grenade and absorbed the blast, saving a fellow Marine. That selfless decision nearly cost Carpenter his life. He flatlined three times while being evacuated. He lost his right eye and most of his jaw. The years following saw dozens of surgeries to reconstruct his body and years to reconstruct his life.
His Uber driver, Bobby, thanked Carpenter for his service. Carpenter responded, “You are worth it.”
That answer, from a humble and unassuming Marine whose split-second decision on a battlefield, rings in my head to this day. I’ve had the opportunity to meet Carpenter. He spoke at a Wounded Warrior hiring event I organized prior to my retirement from the Marine Corps. He’s as genuine a man and Marine as I’ve ever met. The honesty of his answer to his Uber driver begs each of us to ask ourselves if we’re worthy of his sacrifice. And knowing how close he was to losing his own life to protect his fellow Marine and fight for American freedom, it also begs us to rededicate ourselves to be Americans worthy of that sacrifice.
In the two wars in which I served, Iraq and Afghanistan, I was humbled to serve alongside giants. Those were the young men and women who picked up a rifle and walked into the fray to fight for an idea – that the freedom we enjoy in America is a greater ideal than their own lives.
The memory of many of them remains with me today. Their families buried those young Americans in cemeteries with rows upon rows of simple white stones, marking their resting place. There are 173 official national cemeteries in the United States and around the world. We honor them in those places.
Our presidents honor their memory at Arlington National Cemetery, where some of those Marines, sailors, soldiers and airmen with whom I walked alongside on battlefields now rest. Others are buried in hometown gravesites. All those places are reminders of the price of the freedoms we enjoy today.
They are also reminders for us, myself included, to be worthy of the cost they paid for that freedom. These young Americans knew that cost yet marched forward willingly. They were the best of us. That’s worthy of remembrance. It’s also worthy of living up to their example.
Arming Heroes
That notion isn’t lost on us in the firearm industry. We know that the companies we represent produce the arms and ammunition these warriors carry into battle. We are acutely aware that those Americans who fought for our freedom relied on us to produce the finest arms, ammunition and components that they staked their very lives on. Those guns and ammunition were forged in our factories. These Americans were forged from the best of us.
Being worthy of their sacrifice is what will ensure that we’re doing more than making firearms and ammunition to defend America for the next 250 years. It will ensure we’re forging Americans worthy of their example.
We know that Memorial Day is more than a day to simply remember those men and women who fell in war. Their sacrifice requires us to be worthy of it. Among the red, white and blue bunting, parades, moments of silence, rifle volley and longing sound of “Taps” echoing in the cemeteries, we should honor these Americans by doing more than just remembering.
We honor these heroes when we live up to that answer Cpl. Carpenter offered, “You are worth it.”
– Mark Oliva
Mark Oliva is Managing Director of Public Affairs for NSSF, The Firearm Industry Trade Association. He is a retired Marine Master Gunnery Sergeant with 25 years of service, including tours in Iraq, Afghanistan, Haiti, Albania and Zaire.
