Today is Memorial Day in America. There is a day in November when we honor all those who have served in the uniform of the United States, but today is the day when we honor all those who paid the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom.

Among the fallen, most were laid to rest in the land they loved, others lie beneath white crosses in military cemeteries around the world, and others’ final resting place is known only to God. To all of them, we owe a debt of gratitude we can never repay, and this year especially, we feel the profound gratitude to our heroic fallen and their families.

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What we observe as Memorial Day began as Decoration Day three years after the end of the Civil War, when Americans honored fallen soldiers by decorating their final resting places with newly bloomed flowers and that “dear old flag they saved.”

As their commander-in-chief observed while dedicating one such resting place in Gettysburg, Pa., “it is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this” – for Americans can claim the distinction of being a freedom-loving people only if we love and cherish the memory of all those who gave their all for our freedom.

It is remarkable to think that in every generation Americans have risen up and been willing to pay the ultimate price for our nation — from Bunker Hill to Belleau Wood, from San Juan Hill to Saipan, from the Coral Sea to Kandahar.

Today American soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines and Coast Guard are deployed around the world, standing guard for our freedom, and they continue to risk their lives for our sake and the sake of our way of life.

For all they have done, our fallen and their families deserve the tributes that will be recited on this day of days, but on this Memorial Day, perhaps we feel loyalty to their memory and gratitude for their service just a little more deeply, for it comes at a momentous time in the life of our nation, when all of us have been reminded just how precious our freedom truly is.

From the outset of the coronavirus pandemic, the American people have made great personal sacrifices to protect the health and safety of our nation. In a very real sense, the American people have been willing to voluntarily forfeit aspects of their personal freedom to protect the lives and safety of their family, their neighbors and people they’d never met.

While our doctors, nurses, health care workers and first responders rendered care for our families as if they were their own, the American people stayed home from school, from work and from worship. Some closed down a business that took a lifetime to build. They have canceled weddings and graduations. They have foregone seeing parents, grandparents and loved ones.

This Memorial Day, the American people have just come through a lot.

And while we grieve the loss of more than 98,000 Americans, because of the compassion and cooperation of the American people, tens of thousands of families have been spared the same heartbreaking loss.

And now, all 50 states have begun to reopen in a safe and responsible manner. Even while continuing the practices that will keep our families and communities safe, we are going back to our places of work and worship. We are venturing out to stores, restaurants and the great outdoors. After going without what we once took for granted for so long, we are beginning to reclaim our freedom, which may be what makes this Memorial Day that much more special.

Today we feel a greater sense than ever before just what a blessing it is to live in freedom and how much we owe to those who fought and died to give us this free country.

After a time of great hardship for millions of Americans, this Memorial Day we do well to honor those who made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom.

Now more than ever, we will remember and honor all the men and women throughout the generations who defended our freedom at the cost of their lives. We will also remember the families of the fallen for whom every day is Memorial Day and assure them that our nation will never forget or fail to honor their loved ones.

And as we remember those who paid the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom, we will also remember and pray for all those serving today in the Armed Forces of the United States.

It is Memorial Day in America. Their duty was to serve; our duty is to remember, and as our nation begins to safely and responsibly reclaim the freedoms at the heart of our way of life, let us all do our duty this day to remember and honor the memory of all who served and died for our country and our freedom.

God bless them all and God bless America.