Radio Address: Memorial Day
This week’s radio address honors the men and women who have made the ultimate sacrifice in the defense of our country.
Hello, this is Governor Jennifer Granholm.
Monday is Memorial Day. For many, this is just another long holiday weekend. But we must remember the meaning and importance of Memorial Day. It is a day to honor the men and women of our armed forces who gave their lives to defend freedom, our country, our way of life.
In the year since we last commemorated Memorial Day, 11 more members of our armed forces who called Michigan home died in Iraq or Afghanistan. A total of 176 service men and women from Michigan have perished in these two wars.
Yesterday I welcomed to the governor’s residence the families of Michigan service members who have died recently in the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts. This is the sixth year that I have hosted this event, and every one has been touching and memorable.
When you speak with the families of these service members, there is great sadness, but there is also deep pride. Pride in their loved ones — their heroes — who sacrificed their lives overseas so we would not have to sacrifice our freedoms here at home.
It is difficult to find words for the family who has lost someone in war. Even Abraham Lincoln struggled with it.
In 1864, President Lincoln wrote a letter to a Massachusetts widow, Mrs. Lydia Bixby, to console her on the loss of her sons in the Civil War. This is what Lincoln wrote:
Dear Madam, I have been shown in the files of the War Department a statement of the Adjutant General of Massachusetts that you are the mother of five sons who have died gloriously on the field of battle.
I feel how weak and fruitless must be any word of mine which should attempt to beguile you from the grief of a loss so overwhelming. But I cannot refrain from tendering you the consolation that may be found in the thanks of the Republic they died to save.
I pray that our Heavenly Father may assuage the anguish of your bereavement and leave you only the cherished memory of the loved and lost and the solemn pride that must be yours to have laid so costly a sacrifice upon the altar of freedom.
Yours, very sincerely and respectfully, Abraham Lincoln.
As Lincoln noted, freedom requires sacrifice. The sacrifices made by the 176 Michigan service members who gave their lives in Iraq and Afghanistan will not be forgotten. We are all so proud of them, and they shall live forever in our hearts and our minds. They exemplify the best our nation has to offer.
Thank you for listening, and God bless America.
