Each year when Memorial Day comes around again, America enjoys an extended weekend and a holiday filled with enjoyable activities like barbecues and picnics and recreation. The fact that we’re free to celebrate a holiday is the point of it all…

A few years ago I was fortunate to get Col. Oliver North on my radio show ‘The Right Questions’ for Memorial Day (pre-recoding it a day earlier to fully mark the holiday). I wanted to hear his thoughts about honor, valor, nobility, service. It was inspiring.

Col. North reports from Arlington National Cemetery this Memorial Day.

These are the final resting places for more than 3 million Americans who served in our armed forces — as soldiers, sailors, airmen, Guardsmen and Marines — including the nearly 5,500 who have perished in Afghanistan and Iraq…

In words written on stone markers, these places tell the story of who we are as a people.

Regardless of when they served, all interred in these cemeteries sacrificed the comforts of home and absented themselves from the warmth and affection of loved ones…

At countless funerals and memorial services for those who lost their lives in the service of our country, I hear the question, “Why is such a good young person taken from us in the prime of life?” Plato, the Greek philosopher, apparently sought to resolve the issue by observing, “Only the dead have seen the end of war.” I prefer to take my solace in the words of Jesus to the Apostle John: “Father, I will that those you have given me, be with me where I am.”

To all who have served and survived, thank you. To all family members whose loved ones gave their lives in the service of others, thank you for your own sacrifice. For all who served and paid the ultimate price, eternal rest and peace.