this Memorial Day, we reflect on the tremendous cost of liberty and pay tribute to those who've paid the ultimate sacrifice. As a veteran of global war on terror, I've witnessed firsthand the courage and selflessness that define our armed forces. I've lost brothers and sisters overseas, and I know that life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness don't come without a price. It's a day to remember those that went before us and sacrificed, but also I think it's important to realize that we will sacrifice again for what's important in this country, and those are our values. America has and we will defend the values that we hold dear. It's a time that should be solemn but not sad, and what I mean by that is I know that my friends would want us to celebrate our freedom, so you should. America means something different to all of us. When I wake up every day in America and I wake up under 50 stars and 13 red and white stripes, I know that I get to wake up and decide that today is better than yesterday. No matter what, no matter what yesterday was, I get to decide that it's a better day. That opportunity, it came at a price. It came at a price during World War I, World War II, Korea, Vietnam, Panama, Kosovo, Bosnia, Somalia, Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, wherever our service members fought and died, that's where that price was paid, and Memorial Day is about remembering those that paid that price for the rest of us that live on. Less than one percent of this country volunteers to lend their lives to protecting freedom and to protecting our Constitution. If a person doesn't have a connection to the military, an aunt, an uncle, a son, a daughter, whatever it might be, I think it's even more important for them to think about how Memorial Day plays a role in their life. There were individuals that fought and died on their behalf even though they didn't know them at all. They weren't their blood, they weren't part of their family tree, they weren't in their hometown maybe, maybe not. They didn't necessarily go to school with them, they didn't have any connection with them, but for the service member that was overseas, they were just as important as anybody else and they were doing it on their behalf. That's the definition of selfless and it's the definition of honorable and that's what our service members that fought and died are every bit about. Take a minute and thank that spouse, that daughter, that son, that parent, and whatever. I mean I still get very emotional when I think about the families of my fallen and when I think about the Gold Star families that frankly we don't do enough for. It's incumbent upon us to honor their sacrifices not just with words but with actions. One of those people is my classmate. His name is David Frazier. David Frazier is from Houston, Texas. He was a very, very dear friend of mine. He was killed on his last mission on November 26, 2006 and I had the honor of giving his eulogy. I think about him every single day, but it's important for those who don't know David Frazier to hear about him and hear about his name and to think about all the sacrifices of many brave men and women just like him. As far as Memorial Day, I've lost about 50 of my friends since 9/11, killed in training and in combat. I held one of their hands in Afghanistan as he died and listened to his wife cry into a satellite phone, into his ear in a tent in Afghanistan because she knew that she would never see her husband alive again and those memories don't fade and I'm here again in freedom because of his sacrifice. For me it's incredibly personal. The Green Berets that we lost from our unit are forever frozen in time. At the time that we lost them, these guys were late 20s, early 30s. I tell my family all the time I never complain about another birthday or getting older because they'll never see 30, they'll never see 40. A couple of them will never see their kids and you know one in particular that I wear, Matt Pacino, he volunteered to go on point every single mission. The Taliban couldn't clack off their IEDs because our jammers were too effective and too good so they went old school. They went back to tripwires and it shut a lot of units down because it was killing a lot of Americans but not Matt's team. Matt volunteered to go out ahead of our armored convoys on a motorcycle so that he could be close to the ground and when I finally stopped him one day and said yeah hey man you're America's biggest hero. I can't tell you how much I appreciate you guys staying aggressive. He said you know I want to be out ahead I can see those tripwires but if I miss one it'll only get me not my four or five brothers and one of the vehicles behind me like where do you get these kind of Americans and we were willing to do that for each other. We were willing to do that for our fellow Americans. We were willing to do that to keep America so that we're all waking up breathing free air in a free country day in and day out and so every Memorial Day. Those are the guys I think about. I want everybody to be able to celebrate the freedoms that we have in this country. I want everyone to celebrate how far we've come as a country but I want everyone to also take their pregnant paws to thank those that paid the ultimate sacrifice for that's the only reason why we get to let freedom ring in the greatest country in the world. Today and every day we say thank you to those who've given everything to our freedom and to their families. May God bless the souls of the fallen. May God bless our veterans and may God bless the United States of America.
Transcribed automatically. Expect errors in names and numbers.
