Freedom isn't free: Honor those who never came home on this Memorial Day

Fox News

4 days ago

Memorial Day should make you a little uncomfortable. Because sacrifice should never be comfortable. But from that discomfort can come gratitude. And from gratitude, a commitment to live better—not in guilt, but in honor.
And yet sadly, for most Americans, it merely marks the start of summer. It's beach chairs and burgers, sales and three-day weekends—a reprieve from work with little thought given to the sacrifice this day was meant to honor. But for those of us who've stood on foreign soil, witness to teammates who never came home, Memorial Day is a haunting—but beautiful— reckoning we face each year.
There's a harsh truth about war that never leaves you: the fallen gave everything in an instant—and the living carry it for a lifetime.
We, like other generations before us, have lost teammates, more than we care to count, some to bullets and bombs, others to the invisible wounds they carried back with them. Brave souls who gave everything—not for politics or glory—but for love of country and you. For an ideal, the American ideal of what we stand for and the potential of what we can become. And therein lies the covenant between the living and the fallen: they laid down their lives for a belief, an ideal—an unbreakable faith in us and our potential to become something greater.
This is hard to explain to those who haven't served, and we don't blame anyone for that. Less than 1% of Americans serve in the armed forces today. Only about 5% of Americans have ever worn the uniform. Most live free of any direct connection to war. That's not a condemnation—it's a consequence of the freedoms we enjoy, protected by those willing to fight and die for them.
But that disconnection has made Memorial Day more misunderstood and underappreciated with each passing year.
One way to bridge that divide is to listen—to learn the stories of those who gave everything. This Memorial Day, FOX Nation is releasing a powerful new series, "The Unsung of Arlington," honoring five extraordinary Americans laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery. From John Glenn to Jane Delano, their lives remind us what courage, sacrifice, and unwavering belief in this nation truly look like. The series doesn't just tell their stories—it keeps their legacies alive. If you've ever wondered how to honor the fallen, start by learning who they were.
Memorial Day is not about glorifying war. It's about honoring those who gave up everything so the rest of us could live in peace, prosperity, and yes—comfort.
It's about men and women like Darrik Benson (USN), John Brown (USAF), Shannon Kent (USN), Joshua Wheeler (USA), Edward Smith (USMC), and countless others whose names never made headlines but whose legacies live on in the quiet grief of Gold Star families and the unwavering loyalty of those who fought beside them.
Memorial Day is not a celebration—it's a remembrance of both their sacrifice and the covenant left upon us. A day when the living should ask themselves one question: Am I living a life worthy of their sacrifice?
No one is asking you to feel guilty. They fought so you wouldn't have to. But what they ask—what they hope—is that for one day out of the year, Americans pause to reflect on the cost of the freedoms they so casually enjoy. Reflect on the blessings of safety, security, and opportunity. Reflect on the cost paid by strangers so that your kids can play in the yard without fear.
And maybe—do something more.
Teach your kids about the meaning of the day. Toast to the fallen. Or simply take a moment of silence—real silence. That silence—that discomfort—is where gratitude begins. And from gratitude comes action.
This Memorial Day, enjoy your freedom. But don't forget where it came from.
It's not a holiday. It's a headstone.
For those of us who came home, for those who never did, and for those who never had to go—it's a covenant. One that we, as Americans, cannot and must not ever break.
Never Forget. Forever Honor.
God Bless America.
Mike Sarraille is host of the brand-new Fox Nation series "The Unsung of Arlington" available right now on FoxNation.com.
Kirk Offel is a former Navy Submariner and Founder/CEO of Overwatch Mission Critical.