Happy Memorial Day!
Today we honor those men and women that have given the ultimate sacrifice so that we could live free. These kinds of heroes helped lay the groundwork for our nation and they are still with us today in the form of living veterans. Memorial Day is also a good opportunity to pay our respects to those currently serving their country in the armed forces and the daily sacrifices they and their families still make on our behalf.
This Memorial Day, my family will be celebrating my Dad's 90th birthday which happens to fall on Memorial Day. He is a WWII veteran. I would normally be attending or speaking at a Memorial Day event but this time with my father is special. I encourage all of you to spend time with a veteran today to thank them for their service.
As long as I’m in public office, I will do whatever I can to ensure our state takes care of its veterans. In fact, this legislative session, I spent much of my time focused on issues for military veterans. From tax fairness to job opportunities to funding veterans nursing homes, our nation’s veterans are touched in countless ways by the laws made in St. Paul. Across party lines, I’ve found several colleagues that share my passion for supporting veterans and we hope to make great strides and improvements to our laws in the next few years.
On May 30, 1870 (Memorial Day), Maj. Gen. Logan said, “Let us then all unite in the solemn feelings of the hour, and tender with our flowers the warmest sympathies of our souls! Let us revive our patriotism and strengthen our loyalty by the example of the noble dead around us.”
As we measure the countless examples of ‘the Noble Dead’ and weigh the selfless devotion of our fallen and what they have given, we are obligated to look hard at who we are and aspire to become the best we can be.
Today, we share a common sorrow, but we also are united in our thanks to those who gave their last full measure of devotion to a cause much greater than themselves.
On Memorial Day, we commemorate and celebrate with humble reverence, the memory of absent comrades. Yet, while we revere and cherish the memory of those who have come before, we are reminded to do everything within our power to support our soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines and coastguardsmen.
Today, there are nearly 25 million veterans in the United States, and thousands on active duty are currently deployed abroad. In Minnesota, we are home to over 300,000 living military veterans. These are patriotic Americans who put their families, communities, and country first, to uphold the freedoms we all enjoy.
Thank you and have a great week.
Sincerely,
Bob