Today, Liberty Counsel solemnly honors those who have fallen to secure our freedom.

In 1868, on the very first Decoration Day (now called Memorial Day), future President James Garfield stood before an audience of 5,000 and paid tribute to the fallen heroes whose headstones, decorated with flowers, stood behind him as a testament to their sacrifice. He solemnly acknowledged,

For love of country they accepted death, and thus resolved all doubts, and made immortal their patriotism and their virtue.

Today, on this Memorial Day, you and I have the opportunity and duty to honor America's heroes, to recall their sacrifice and courage, and to pay our respects for the selflessness of their ultimate sacrifice. We owe each one a deep debt of gratitude.

I urge you to take time today to honor the memory and families of America's fallen heroes, "lest they be forgotten."

Speaking at Arlington National Cemetery on Memorial Day, 1982, President Ronald Reagan declared,

The United States and the freedom for which it stands, the freedom for which they died, must endure and prosper. Their lives remind us that freedom is not bought cheaply. It has a cost; it imposes a burden. And just as they whom we commemorate were willing to sacrifice, so too must we--in a less final, less heroic way--be willing to give of ourselves.

Our great land has been preserved and protected by countless brave men and women who have gone into harm's way to secure our freedom. From the Battle of Bunker Hill to the beaches of Normandy to sun-baked ISIS enclaves in Syria and Iraq, your freedom and mine has been purchased at the price of the blood of brave American patriots who died in battle.

America remembers these too often unsung heroes this Memorial Day.

We cannot and must not take for granted their ultimate sacrifice.

Because of them, we enjoy religious freedom, the right to peaceably assemble, to vote and to raise our children in safety. These precious gifts have only come because of courageous men and women who laid down their lives in service to our nation.

Today, as we remember America's fallen heroes, I ask you to also pray for our active military personnel who are engaged in conflicts around the world or who are performing their assigned duties here at home.

God bless you, God bless America, and God bless our service men and women and their families!

Mathew D. Staver, Founder and Chairman
Anita L. Staver, President
Liberty Counsel