Senior Living

1 st Lt. Almar LaRon Fitzgerald, 23, died February 23, 2006.

I did not know Almar, but I remember when we learned about his death as the result of an IED (improvised explosive device). It detonated while he was conducting combat operations against enemy forces in Iraq.

Almar was a 2000 Lexington High graduate in the first graduating class of the new millennium, full of hope and optimism for the future. Before his death, I had performed a marriage ceremony for his mother and her new husband.

I also have a friend who mourned Almar’s loss as she had been one of his teachers and recalled him as an outstanding young man.

This is what Memorial Day is about.

Last month, as I watched the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknowns in Arlington National Cemetery, I was moved by the extent of the guards’ display of discipline and self-sacrifice every hour of every day of every year.

Every effort we make to maintain the freedoms we enjoy in America cannot equal the sacrifice of those who gave up their lives for this great nation. They deserve to be honored and remembered as best we can.

Every year we hear pleas to not let Memorial Day just be a national picnic day without a breath of thanks to God for those who have laid down their lives for the security of our nation and the cause of freedom around the world.

I add my voice to that plea as we enjoy the blessings of liberty.

Next Week: Experiencing the quiet hand of God’s protection