Remembering what they died for

In Riverhead, Memorial Day is marked by wreath-laying ceremonies, a parade around downtown, flag-raising tributes at cemeteries and monuments — reminders, year after year, that this day is about more than barbecues and beach outings. It is a day of solemn remembrance, honoring those who gave their lives in service to the United States.

Here in our community, where veterans’ names are etched in stone in our parks and memorials and on hundreds of thousands of grave markers at Calverton National Cemetery, Memorial Day should stir more than just patriotic sentiment. It should prompt us to reflect deeply on what those sacrifices were made for — and whether we are doing enough to honor them, not just in word, but in action.

Originally known as Decoration Day, the holiday began after the Civil War as a time to honor fallen soldiers by decorating their graves with flowers. Over time, it grew to include all American service members who died in war. But its purpose remains unchanged: to remember.

And we must remember not only the lives lost, but the ideals they died defending. Those ideals are the foundation of our country — laid out in the Declaration of Independence and protected in the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. They include freedom of speech, of the press, of religion; the right to protest, to due process, to equal protection under the law.

These principles aren’t abstract. They aren’t partisan. They are not relics of the past. They are the bedrock of our democracy — the very freedoms generations of Americans have fought and died to preserve. And yet, it is easy to forget that the rights we often take for granted were secured at a terrible cost. Each gravestone in every military cemetery represents not just a life lost, but a promise kept — that liberty is worth defending.

In Riverhead, we are blessed to live in a place where community still matters, where neighbors still gather for memorial ceremonies and turn out for the Memorial Day parade. But remembering the fallen requires more than showing up once a year. It requires vigilance — a commitment to protecting the very freedoms that others died to preserve.

So this Memorial Day, as we hear the solemn notes of “Taps” at each of the wreath-laying ceremonies, or see the flag flutter at half-staff, let’s not allow the moment to pass lightly. Let’s recommit ourselves to the ideals that define our nation and honor the memory of the fallen by living up to the responsibility they left in our hands.