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By Guest Columnist Marie Broder, District Attorney for the Griffin Judicial Circuit
GRIFFIN - This Monday marked the passing of another Memorial Day. For many, it is a day to enjoy a long holiday weekend with friends and family. But for those who have served in our military, or have lost someone who has served, it is an occasion to remember the sacrifice made by a fellow soldier, family member, or friend. My office is home to a Chief Assistant District Attorney and Investigator who have served in the military and many in our office have family members who have served, including both of my grandfathers. For those closest to our fallen heroes, the memory of those who have died in combat is not something to be honored on a single day, but merely an opportunity for the rest of our country to join them in mourning and remembrance.
Indeed, one day is hardly enough time to pay our respects to those who have paid the ultimate price for us to live in peace. But funerals and memorials are not for those who have passed, they are those of us who must go on living without the ones that we love. So, how do we honor those that died so that we might live? We must remember them not for what was lost on the field of battle, but what was gained here at home. We live in a country where we can worship as we please, a country where we can speak out against our own government, a country where we can elect our own leaders, and a country where we are entitled to due process of law. We possess these rights because our young men and women fought here and at home to stop evil forces from taking these away. So, I encourage you to remember, every time you step in the voting booth, or go to church, or walk freely down the street without worrying about being persecuted for what you believe, that these extraordinary gifts came at great cost to people whose names you never even had the opportunity to know.
Though we may face economic hardship, illness, and uncertainty, good people faced far more terrifying fears with courage. Let us never forgot them. Let us honor them by showing them that their sacrifice meant something. That we will be good stewards of the peace and prosperity they provided to us.