Come To The Parade This Memorial Day

Monday is Memorial Day ... the one holiday a year when Americans pay tribute to those who gave their lives that this great nation of ours might be free. There's a long-time saying among former servicemen: "all veterans gave some" but "some gave all." On this day we remember all veterans, but it is especially set aside to remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice for you and me ... for the Unites States of America. It is the annual reminder that you and I inherited this great land and that others paid the price ... it is the ultimate statement of the truth that freedom is not free.

I think it fair to say that during the Vietnam era we in America began to take our nation and our freedom for granted. A sizeable anti-war and anti-military class came into being that had not existed after World War II. Gainesville, for instance, had not had a military parade for years, and in some quarters it would not have been popular. And then came 9-11-01 and a wake-up call. We were attacked on our own soil, and 3,000 of our brightest and best civilians were murdered. We lost more people that day than the combined losses at Lexington and Concord; at the Alamo; at Fort Sumter; AND at Pearl Harbor. More Americans died that day than at all those historic events COMBINED. Two of New York's largest buildings were demolished. The Pentagon was blasted. This country suffered more than $100-billion in property damage, and an estimated $1-trillion in capital stock losses. Suddenly, we all knew that if we did not take a stand for our freedom, as our previous generations have done, America just might not survive. We learned there are people out there who would like nothing better than to take America down.

So, America woke up, and locally the Paul E. Bolding Post 7 of the American Legion renewed a parade on Memorial Day. Today, beginning at 10 a.m. and moving down historic Green Street, all of us have the opportunity to participate ... either in the parade or along the way. Today is your day to bring your flags, be a patriot, and to show your children and grandchildren that America is, indeed, worth fighting for.

This is Gordon Sawyer, from a window on historic Green Street.