By John Kline

Throughout the year, we often have opportunity to pay tribute to the men and women throughout history who have served our great nation. On Memorial Day, we pause to honor a select few: those who gave their lives to defend our freedom. This is a day to celebrate their ultimate sacrifice on our behalf.

The freedoms and liberties we cherish on this day are owed to the blood and sacrifice of countless Americans who answered their nation’s call to serve. The men and women we recognize on Memorial Day served our country with integrity and honor. They held strong to the founding principles of our nation – pursuing liberty, justice, and freedom without regard for the cost.

It was 25 years ago that President Ronald Reagan stood at Pointe du Hoc, Normandy, to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the day Allied forces invaded Nazi-occupied France. On that day President Reagan offered to the members of that “greatest generation” who were gathered meaningful, memorable words that continue to serve as inspiration for us all.

“One’s country is worth dying for, and democracy is worth dying for, because it’s the most deeply honorable form of government ever devised by man,” President Reagan said. “All of you loved liberty. All of you were willing to fight tyranny, and you knew the people of your countries were behind you.”

In the coming days, I will be visiting the Normandy American Cemetery in northern France, home to the graves of more than 9,000 Americans killed in World War II. The cemetery sits near the beaches from which U.S. troops launched the June 1944 D-Day invasion. As President Reagan so eloquently remarked, “It was the deep knowledge – and pray God we have not lost it – that there is a profound difference between the use of force for liberation and the use of force for conquest.”

As time goes on it becomes increasingly important to preserve the legacy of the fallen heroes who made – and continue to make – possible the safety and security we, as Americans, enjoy. In Washington, beautiful memorials stand in enduring tribute to those who have made the ultimate sacrifice. The World War II Memorial, the Korean Memorial, and the Vietnam Memorial all serve as a constant reminder to future generations.

But even these compelling monuments pale in comparison to the memorial created by the legacy of the lives that were lost by those who served. These majestic monuments cannot convey the belief by those who gave their lives that the movement of history is toward justice and human freedom.

As we honor those who gave their lives to defend these truths, it is important on this day to also remember the families of these fallen heroes. Behind every grave of a fallen soldier is a wife without the husband to whom she pledged her undying love; a little girl who will never again feel safe in the warmth of her daddy’s embrace, a mother and father who have lost the daughter they once cradled in their arms. Such losses are unparalleled.

Today, as young Americans answer the call to defend our nation and provide freedom and stability to troubled regions around the world, we find ourselves with a new generation of American heroes. These young men and women join their predecessors who made the ultimate sacrifice in pursuit of freedom and a safer world.

This Memorial Day, we honor all those who left us too soon, whose lives were cut short on distant battlefields. Today and every day, let us not forget to pay tribute to those true American heroes to whom we owe so much.

John Kline, a 25-year Marine Corps veteran who retired at the rank of Colonel, represents the Second District in the U.S. House of Representatives. In his fourth term in Congress, he is a member of the House Intelligence Committee, Armed Services Committee, Ethics Committee, and Education and Labor Committee.