This Memorial Day, Let Us Celebrate All Our Veterans Died to Defend

Since the nation's founding, more than 1.1 million Americans have died fighting in our country's wars.

Think about that for a second: You could double the population of our largest city here in Alaska, Anchorage, and there would still be fewer people in this state than the number of patriots who have died in service to America.

Whether these honored dead repose in Arlington National Cemetery, somewhere closer to their homes and families, or halfway around the world, they deserve our thanks and utmost respect. It is, as President Abraham Lincoln said while dedicating the cemetery at Gettysburg, "altogether fitting and proper" that we should purposefully honor those who "gave their lives that [this] nation might live."

President Lincoln also reminds us that the best way to honor our nation's fallen heroes is to "take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion," and resolve "that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."