LETTER: Involve children this Memorial Day

To the Editor:

There will be parades, swimming, fishing and band music, topped by a family picnic. Before it’s all over, pick out a special moment to sit down and speak about, just who has made all of this possible.

No better way than to take family through the many cemeteries where they can view the beautiful flags as far as the eye can see.

And beneath those flags, lie the gone but not forgotten relatives that answered the call to fight for and protect our way of life.

The stories of heroism and patriotism being endless, one particularly stands out.

While young people today face an uncertain future when they graduate, they still can enjoy proms and the thrill of receiving that diploma. That pales in comparison looking back to 1941 when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor.

Instead of proms and receiving that diploma, if 18, they were taken out of school and just months later were fighting for their lives in the South Pacific.

Think about it… Many of these young people never lived to see another Memorial Day.

So it is so important, on this special Flag Day, as loved ones view those flags mourning relatives that fought and died for those many freedoms that we so often take for granted.

So with the veterans that fought and won WWII, their numbers quickly dwindling, it is vital that our younger generation be our greatest hope of passing on history.

Michael Murray

New Richmond

Tags: letters to the editor, opinion