I find myself in Raleigh NC on Memorial Day.  Memorial Day is a time to remember those men and women who gave their all so we can live the life we enjoy here in The United States of America.  Today at the State Capitol there was a beautiful ceremony with speeches and bagpipes.  I went to the Vietnam specific name reading.  The men who read the names of the missing from North Carolina made us all feel the pain the families must still feel not knowing the true fate of their loved ones.  The State Capitol was the perfect setting for the Memorial Day observance.  The Capitol is where you will find most of North Carolina’s history.  There are monuments and writings on the vast grounds and all are welcome to sit and contemplate.  I walked the Capitol and then went looking for more history in downtown Raleigh.  What I found was a college built in the 1800’s and a downtown struggling to find its identity.  Fortunately it looked like the brakes were put on before all the cool old buildings were torn down.  I took a great picture of the old with the new.  It really shows the renaissance Raleigh is going through.  It is a nice blend; with friendly people and vibrant and healthy growth throughout.  I’m staying in a home built in the early 20th century in an area that is also being revitalized without throwing away the past.  The home is just outside the city center which makes much of Raleigh within walking distance.  After my walk to the State Capitol and around town I came back to my car because I had one more thing to do and it was going to take a bit of a drive.

The Raleigh National Cemetery is just outside town.  I needed to go.  I needed to say thank you.  While I do think about my freedom often and why I have that freedom I so cherish, this is the day I make the time to go see our military in person.  My experience here was different than my other walks through the “Gardens of Stone” on the west coast.  Here the history goes back to day one.  There are soldiers from every war in the south eastern US.  The oldest headstones are a simple white marble cube, many have only a number on them.  From the birth of our Nation, we have had men and women continually make the ultimate sacrifice for future generations, generations they will never know.  So what drives someone to commit to the freedom of others they don’t know and generations they will never know?  In the US we know a thing or two about freedom.  We wanted our freedom from a tyrannical King and we kept others from their freedom.  We made war to break away from the King and then we made war with each other to free all Americans.  We aren’t perfect for sure, but our history is what drives us to be better.  And it is our history that drives someone, someone you never knew or may never know, to fight for your freedom; even to his death.

Let’s all remember