In Part I, I mentioned Paul Monti and his son, Jared, who was killed in Afghanistan. Staff Sergeant Jared Monti was on patrol when they came under fire. One of his men fell down a ridge and Jared tried to save him. The firefight was so intense, on Jared’s third attempt he was killed. Staff Sergeant Monti was awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously.
Memorial Day began as Decoration Day and as a way to decorate, honor, the gravesites of the fallen just after the Civil War ended. There are a lot of stories about the beginning of Memorial Day, from President Lyndon Johnson naming Waterloo, New York, as the birthplace to freed slaves burying Union soldiers.
I don’t think it matters where or how it started, war takes life and it doesn’t discriminate which side you are fighting on. And it reverberates to the living for generations afterward.
This Memorial Day we get the chance to honor those who took up the cause of freedom and gave all. Present and the past. So on Monday, at 3pm, no matter where you are, take a moment, a pause, and honor those who have died in military service.
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