Memories. For some of us this word conjures up feelings of joy, contentment, family, fun, tradition. For others it is a word full of hurt, pain, sorrow. Today, for all of us it should mean one thing…Gratitude.

Today, whether you personally know someone who has served or is serving in a branch of the armed forces or whether you have just been blessed with the freedom that comes from men and women you’ve never met who serve on your behalf, gratitude seems to be in order.

Gratitude for a freedom that has been so ingrained in us, most of us have no idea what it is like to live without it. Gratitude for men and women who are willing to leave behind all that they have, all that they love, all that they know to venture off into the unknown, the unexpected, with a belief that what they are fighting for is worth it. It’s worth the holidays spent apart from family. It’s worth the lonely nights, it’s worth missing their children’s birthdays.

Freedom isn’t easy. In fact, it’s anything but. Today, our hearts should be so full of gratitude for those who realize the price of freedom and go anyway. Those who defend what we here so often take for granted, sometimes by giving the ultimate sacrifice…their lives, deserve at the very least, our gratitude.

So thank you. From the bottom of my heart, thank you for sacrificing so much.

Morris Litka
Kenneth Johnson
Derald Johnson
Jerry Johnson
Terry Johnson
Samuel Gossard
Joseph Gossard
William Winslow
Drew Winslow
Larry O’Dell
Jack Cunningham
Chip Cunningham
Kurt Bratzler
Bill Cunningham
Don Bird
Donald Gossard
Ron Williams
Greg Williams
Charles Beheler

Thank you.