As you know by now, our family lived for more than a decade in Washington D.C. and enjoyed all it had to offer. There are well over 160 monuments and memorials in D.C., and I have to admit we only saw a fraction of these. However, one memorial will be forever burned into my memory: the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
The memorial itself is very subdued, but the impact comes from the roughly 58,000 names of service members who gave their lives in service to their country during the Vietnam War. Included on the wall is the name of one of my wife’s family. We honored his sacrifice by praying as a family as we stood in front of his inscribed name.
Memorial Day was this past Monday and I hope that you honored in in some way the thousands of men and women who gave their lives defending our freedoms in this great country. We can never repay their sacrifice.
I hope you also prayed for currently enlisted members of our military. To these young men and women, I salute you, and your families. Your sacrifices are what help make this country great. The heart and soul of America is worth fighting for, whether it’s on the battlefield, in an election booth, or in our daily life experiences. Let’s treasure what we have every day and fight to protect the freedoms purchased at such high a price.
With deep gratitude and sincere humility,
Mark Jorritsma
President & Executive Director