I want to thank you for the honor of being able to offer some remarks at this great event. I want to thank Cmdr. Jim Sewell and American Legion Post 178 for putting on this important event. It is so heartening to see so many come out on such an important day to honor those who have given the ultimate sacrifice.

On behalf of Marysville, I want to thank all who have served in our Armed Forces, and those who continue to serve today for your incredible sacrifice and service to our nation.

It has always struck me how unfair it seems that some are called upon to have, as Abraham Lincoln once said to a mother who had lost five sons in the Civil War, “laid so costly a sacrifice upon the alter of freedom”. Today we remember those who have made this sacrifice.

I am incredibly grateful for those who are, and have been, willing to put their lives on the line to protect the freedoms we all enjoy. I know so many in our community and here today share in this heartfelt gratitude. On Memorial Day we pay special honor to those who have sacrificed their life in this service. The gravity of this sacrifice should never be lost on any of us. Scripture tells us that no greater love can be shown on this earth… than the willingness to lay down one’s life for another.

Today we commemorate nearly 1.2 million, women and men who have given this greatest of all sacrifices. In just some of the more-recent wars the sacrifices are staggering:

World War 2 – a staggering 405,399 of our brave soldiers killed.

Korea – we lost another 36,914.

Vietnam – 58,220 gave their lives in service.

Gulf War – 383 lost.

Global war on terror

Afghanistan – 2,345 killed

Iraq – 4,488 gave their lives.

Staggering numbers and a staggering sacrifice on battlefields all over the world.

I am proud, as I know so many in our community and those here today are, of our military.

What other nation’s military throughout history has paid a greater price for the cause of freedom and justice in the world today? These heroes represent the very best that the United States has to offer. They so richly deserve all of the respect, recognition, honor and gratitude.

And not just from us but from those throughout the world who have benefitted so greatly from this sacrifice as well. So many are free and living a better life today because of these brave U.S. soldiers who have died in battle.

Having never served in battle, I can only imagine the horror and extreme difficulties that have been faced by those who have served and fought throughout

history. One of the things that is so noteworthy and amazing about our Armed Forces is not that it is perfect, but that the greatest military power on earth has harnessed that capacity for the greater good of so many.

The women and men who serve and have served are marked by such selflessness. Those who have died have done so not to accumulate power or riches, knowing that the odds were great that they would not return. They did this so that we and so many others could enjoy our homes, our loved ones, our comforts and our way of life. For that we are eternally grateful.

These men and women who have made this sacrifice are our heroes, and we should be fiercely protective of their legacy. We should not allow history to be re-written by those who would denigrate this great sacrifice in any way. We should never forget or minimize the immensity of this sacrifice of those who gave their lives and those left behind to grieve without them.

Martin Luther King Jr. once said, “In the end, we will not remember the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends”. Today we gather to remember the silence of those friends who gave the last full measure for the United States on battlefields worldwide.

Marysville is a proud military community as is evidenced by this crowd here today. God bless all those who have sacrificed their life in service to our country, and God bless those loved ones of theirs who remain behind to continue on with the memories (may your sacrifice never be forgotten as well), and God bless all who continue to serve in our Armed Forces today. Thank you.

Jon Nehring is the mayor of Marysville. His column runs monthly. This is the speech he gave at the Marysville Cemetery on Memorial Day.