By JACKIE TAYLOR | May 27, 2026

Memorial Day

I think Fox News commentator Johnny Joey Jones said it right Monday as President Trump spoke at Arlington Cemetery – he explained that Memorial Day is not a holiday like all the rest. It’s not a joyous occasion for parades, etc.; it’s a somber day created to remember all of those who died in service to our country.

I thought about this when earlier in the morning I wished my cousin a “happy Memorial Day.” At that point, I did not understand that I was being disrespectful to those who had died serving our nation. Now, I more greatly understand, though I haven’t lost a loved one to war, but I won’t make that mistake again.

My dad, my step-brother, and several cousins have served in the Armed Forces. Each of my relatives has a different story to tell, many of those are light-hearted – memories of times spent in the military. For my step-brother, who was stationed in Fallujah, Iraq as a medic, memories are harder to get rid of as he saw the worst of the worst. He’s doing better now, but, like many, memories still haunt him.

FoxNews.com by Johnny Jones spoke on the solemness of Memorial Day and said, “…These are just a few of my brothers in arms – among the finest sons our great nation has produced – who likely would have lived decades longer had they not put their devotion to America ahead of themselves.

“These men aren’t just numbers that disappear in the more than 1.1milllion Americans who’ve perished in our nation’s wars. They, like all the others, were human beings who had dreams and insecurities, who loved and were loved. They were sons and fathers, brothers and husbands.

“It’s not enough to simply remember them with solemn thoughts. We have to honor them by allowing their sacrifice to effect positive change in country and in our lives. We should vote with our fallen heroes in mind. We should demand our leaders make decisions of war with the greatest of care and demand that they fulfill promises made to those who return from war.”

I spent a couple of days in Oklahoma with my dad visiting my step-mom’s grave; cleaning it up, planting grass on the prairie that tries to claim the cemetery. Flags adorned many of the graves – an Eagle Scout project for one young man to identify all of the veterans in the cemetery and make sure they get a flag each Memorial Day.

On our return to Kansas, we tuned in Fox News and listened to several speakers gathered at Arlington Cemetery, those people there to honor Memorial Day with many Gold Star families and some remaining WWII veterans.

Though the day is a solemn one, the heartfelt pride that we, as Americans, feel about our country, can’t be extinguished. We’ve got forces at play that want to destroy our nation from the inside; but average Americans have proven they’ll die for our country.

I, for one, am proud of our country and what we stand for; our president has shown there is no moving of the red line in the sand, what he says he means, and the good of our nation is at the heart of what he fights for.

Thank God for America, may He continue to bless her.