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As you go to those first swimming pool parties and backyard cookouts this weekend, take time to remember.

Remember our brothers and sisters, mothers and fathers, grandfathers and friends who left home in service of our country and never returned.

Whether drafted or served voluntarily, they are our true heroes. We may pretend to worship sports and entertainment stars, but these men and women are the ones who should be held up as examples. Think about them this weekend. Say a prayer for their families. Say a prayer for our country.

Memorial Day is a time to remember. Stop by the monument in Downtown Mocksville. Read the names. Imagine their sacrifice.

And be inspired.

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“As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter the words, but to live by them.”       – John F. Kennedy

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“Heroism is not only in the man, but in the occasion.”

      – Calvin Coolidge

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“Those who have long enjoyed such privileges as we enjoy forget in time that men have died to win them.”

            – Franklin D. Roosevelt

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“No man is entitled to the blessings of freedom unless he be vigilant in its preservation.”   – General Douglas MacArthur

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“Our nation owes a debt to its fallen heroes that we can never fully repay.”         – Barack Obama

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“Freedom makes a huge requirement of every human being. With freedom comes responsibility.”

  – Eleanor Roosevelt

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“The patriot’s blood is the seed of freedom’s tree.”     -Thomas Campbell

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“Home of the free, because of the brave.”    – Unknown

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“It doesn’t take a hero to order men into battle. It takes a hero to be one of those men who goes into battle.”

            – Norman Schwarzkopf

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“The brave die never, though they sleep in dust, their courage nerves a thousand living men.” – Minot J. Savage

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“May we never forget freedom isn’t free.”   – Unknown

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“No duty is more urgent than that of returning thanks.”

              – James Allen

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“Veterans are a symbol of what makes our nation great, and we must never forget all they have done to ensure our freedom.”           – Rodney Frelinghuysen

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“Our flag does not fly because the wind moves it. It flies with the last breath of each soldier who died protecting it.”   – Unknown

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“It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather we should thank God such men lived.”

                    – George S. Patton

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“…And if words cannot repay the debt we owe these men, surely with our actions we must strive to keep faith with them and with the vision that led them to battle and to final sacrifice.”         – Ronald Reagan

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“And I’m proud to be an American, where at least I know I’m free. And I won’t forget the men who died, who gave that right to me.”       – Lee Greenwood

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“This nation will remain the land of the free only so long as it is the home of the brave.”             – Elmer Davis

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“For love of country they accepted death.”

    – James A. Garfield