Memorial Day –

This is why our troops are in harm's way in Iraq and Afghanistan.

This is what sometime's happens to those brave men and women. 

Memorial Day weekend is a good time to hang with the family, eat some hot dogs, watch the balloons at the Ballon Fest fly, and just enjoy life. 

But remember, through peacetime, when we don't think about them very much, and through wartime, when they're foremost in our minds because of the dangers they face, our troops are the reason we can do all those things. 

The terrorists who attacked us on September 11th, 2001, didn't do it to knock down the World Trade Center towers, they didn't do it to make a mess at the Pentagon, and they didn't do it to crash a plane in a Pennsylvania field, they did it to destroy our way of life.  They did it to make us want to turn from our freedom.  They did it so we would run and hide. 

Our troops are the ones who avenge those who died on 9-11.  They are the ones who hold the line against people who would plant bombs in our malls, our schools, our churches.  They are the ones who put on a uniform, carry a gun, and travel thousands of miles from home to become targets and get shot at so that we don't have to. 

So this weekend when you're having fun and you see a soldier, thank them for their service.  If they look a little sheepish or don't exactly know what to say, that's because they think they're just doing their job.  But thank them anyway.  They deserve it.  They earned it.

To all our troops, we wish you a safe journey.  Thank you for your service, and let us help in any way we can to make coming home as easy as possible.

God Bless America and God Bless our troops!