I have written about Memorial Day a couple of times in the past. If you're interested, you can check those posts out at the links for Memorial Day Thoughts and Memorial Day 2011.

I probably started thinking about it more in the years since my dad passed away. He'd hoped that I would go into the Air Force since that's where he was for more than 24 years but I had a much different calling. Still, I've always appreciated the men and women in uniform, even if I knew that each person has his or her own reasons for joining.

Not everyone joins because they have an interest in serving their country. Actually, the majority over the last few years have probably joined because jobs were scarce, and the military, since we still had troops in two countries and were running operations in other countries, needed more bodies. One would think that this was something new, that in the past everyone joined because they felt a duty to help protect their country and fight against injustice around the world.

Truth be told, there have always been a great number of people who joined the military for reasons that weren't quite altruistic. Back during the Revolutionary War, often a family member went so that the rest of the family could keep the farm going, and it was usually the father or eldest son. During the Civil War, often rich family members paid someone to go in their place.

Still, some did join the military, and many went to war in service to their country. I don't think anyone ever went to war with the expectation that they might not ever make it home. I'm not sure they've all gone knowing how bad things could be, but they went, which is one of the bravest things anyone could do. If that's not leadership I don't know what is.

Today, even if you end up going to some parties and having fun, at least take a few moments to think of those who fought in a war for their country and never made it back home. They fought both for the rights we hold dear and those that we don't.