Memorial Day in wartime: 2026
Monday is Memorial Day, the time set aside by Congress to remember “the men and women who died while serving in the U.S. military.” I’m hoping you’ll take a few moments with your family to think about those who paid the ultimate price for our freedom.
Memorial Day 2026 is an especially poignant one because, as Admiral Brad Cooper, the commander of U.S. forces in the Middle East, reminded Congress last week, MAJ Cody Khork, MAJ Jeffrey O’Brien, CW3 Robert Marzan, MSG Nicole Amor, MSG Noah Tietjens, SGT Declan Coady, SSG Benjamin Pennington, Maj Ariana Savino, Maj John Klinner, Capt Curtis Angst, Capt Seth Koval, MSgt Tyler Simmons, and TSgt Ashley Pruitt, all gave their lives in service of their country in Operation Epic Fury.
In yesterday’s Proclamation about Memorial Day, the President said:
At Monday’s ceremonies it is expected that the President will have additional remarks. In my view, some of the finest Memorial Day speeches were those given by President Ronald Reagan. However, perhaps his most memorable remarks about those who died serving their country were actually delivered on Veterans’ Day, 1985.
If you do nothing else, please watch this short extract of President Reagan’s remarks found here. (It’s only two minutes long.) You won’t soon forget these words:
“It is, in a way, an odd thing to honor those who died in defense of our country, in defense of us, in wars far away. The imagination plays a trick. We see these soldiers in our mind as old and wise. We see them as something like the Founding Fathers, grave and gray-haired.”
“But most of them were boys when they died, and they gave up two lives — the one they were living and the one they would have lived. When they died, they gave up their chance to be husbands and fathers and grandfathers. They gave up their chance to be revered old men. They gave up everything for our country, for us. And all we can do is remember.”
President Barack Obama also gave an awesome speech honoring those who gave their all. Here’s part of his Memorial Day speech delivered in 2009:
“Today, some of those stones are found at the bottom of this hill in Section 60, where the fallen from Iraq and Afghanistan rest. The wounds of war are fresh in Section 60. A steady stream of visitors leaves reminders of life: photos, teddy bears, favorite magazines. Friends place small stones as a sign they stopped by. Combat units leave bottles of beer or stamp cigarettes into the ground as a salute to those they rode in battle with. Perfect strangers visit in their free time, compelled to tend to these heroes, to leave flowers, to read poetry — to make sure they don’t get lonely.”
“If the fallen could speak to us, what would they say? Would they console us? Perhaps they might say that while they could not know they’d be called upon to storm a beach through a hail of gunfire, they were willing to give up everything for the defense of our freedom; that while they could not know they’d be called upon to jump into the mountains of Afghanistan and seek an elusive enemy, they were willing to sacrifice all for their country; that while they couldn’t possibly know they would be called to leave this world for another, they were willing to take that chance to save the lives of their brothers and sisters in arms.
ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA, UNITED STATES
Photo by Sgt. Julian Patricio, 3d U.S. Infantry Regiment “The Old Guard”
“What is this thing, this sense of duty? What tugs at a person until he or she says, “Send me”? Why, in an age when so many have acted only in pursuit of the narrowest self-interest, have the soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines of this generation volunteered all that they have on behalf of others? Why have they been willing to bear the heaviest burden?”
“Whatever it is, they felt some tug; they answered a call; they said: “I’ll go.” That is why they are the best of America, and that is what separates them from those of us who have not served in uniform — their extraordinary willingness to risk their lives for people they never met.”
Duke Memorial
Between Duke Chapel and Duke Divinity School there is a memorial with the names of the more than 300 Duke alumni who have been killed in action on the nation’s conflicts.
Though he wasn’t killed in action, I often think of a former student, Richard Lin, a truly awesome young man who died in a car accident while serving as a Navy judge advocate (JAG). A beautiful note about Richard’s passing written by Liz Gustafson, then our Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, was published in Lawfire in 2019. You can read it and some more about Richard here: “A Life Too Short Leaves a Lesson and Legacy”
Richard is buried in Arlington, but he will never be forgotten by those fortunate enough to have known him.
What to do on Memorial Day…
So how can you and your family honor the fallen on Memorial Day? In his Proclamation the President, as the law asks him to do, designates “the hour beginning in each locality at 11:00 a.m. of that day as a time when people might unite in prayer,” and he asks “all Americans to observe the National Moment of Remembrance beginning at 3:00 p.m. local time on Memorial Day.”
A listing of events around the country is found here. You may also want to take a look at my wife’s blog, “Memorial Day – 22 Ways to Enjoy and Pay Tribute.”
Consider listening to Trace Adkins’ “Arlington” (here), and/or Coffey Anderson’s song “Memorial Day” (here) – they hit the mark.
So, yes, enjoy the day but don’t forget that for many families and veterans, there’s an empty chair at the table. For them, every day is Memorial Day.
