Dr. Richard Clark

This Monday, May 29th, our country will celebrate Memorial Day. While many look to the Memorial Day weekend as a time for picnics and the beginning of summer, the true reason for the national holiday is much more significant. Begun in the 1860”s as Decoration Day, it was a day to pay tribute to the fallen soldiers of the Civil War. Since that time the name was changed to Memorial Day and the federal holiday was established to honor soldiers from all conflicts who paid the ultimate price for their country.

It is fitting that two of the 4 “H’s” in the 4-H Pledge re- mind us to pledge our heart to greater loyalty and our hands to larger service. Our country has and is currently been defended by men and women who took service and loyalty to country seriously and many of which paid the price with their lives. I hope that you will stop for a time of reflection this weekend to appreciate the freedoms we have as citizens of the United States and to say thank you to our current servicemen and women. But most of all, remember our servicemen and women who paid the ultimate price for all of us. Freedom is never free.