We Remember The Men and Women Who’ve Sacrificed For Freedom

We each will do it in our own way. Yet no matter how you choose to remember those who’ve sacrificed everything while defending freedom and liberty, I know you’ll agree it’s important to take time to think about the meaning of Memorial Day and how fortunate we are to live in a free and prosperous country … and to realize the cost.

To commemorate this solemn day, Locke won’t be holding a Shaftesbury Society forum. We’ll return on Monday, June 7.

I will remember by reading the names of those buried at Arlington National Cemetery. More than 400 Medal of Honor recipients rest at Arlington. They are heroes from our many wars and conflicts.

Arlington National Cemetery is the final resting place for Medal of Honor recipients from the following conflicts*:

• Indian Wars
• Civil War
• Spanish American War
• Philippine Insurrection
• Boxer Rebellion
• Mexican Service Campaign (Vera Cruz)
• Haitian Campaign
• World War I
• Second Nicaraguan Campaign
• World War II
• Korean War
• Vietnam War
• Operation Iraqi Freedom
• Operation Enduring Freedom (Afghanistan) 

As the Biden administration prepares to withdraw from Afghanistan, it is worth noting the Medal of Honor recipient from the Afghanistan campaign who rests among the rolling hills. He is  Green Beret Ronald Shurer, who, in 2018, was awarded the Medal of Honor by President Trump for his actions in Afghanistan. He was 41 when he died of cancer last year.

Here is the ceremony at the White House on October 2, 2018. Listen to the description of Staff Sgt. Shurer’s heroism.

Here is Staff Sgt. Shurer discussing the medal on October 5, 2018.

“We are truly brothers,” he said of the men with whom he served.

And we are free Americans because of the sacrifices of men and women like Staff Sgt. Ronald Shurer.