I didn’t forget to write a column about Memorial Day. I planned this. I wonder if you remembered to remember this past Monday.

Did you think about those who were religiously persecuted and risked everything to escape and come to America? Did you remember the courage it took to set foot on a virgin land and start from nothing? Many gave their lives for that freedom, and some of us are the result of that sacrifice.

Did you remember those who established colonies in the hard, new land and forged cities and a new identity? Did you remember those who were willing to sacrifice all they owned and their lives to build a new nation?

What of the little people, the farmers, shopkeepers, dockworkers, women who kept the home going, and scalawags who stood with the signers of the Declaration of Independence and pushed a tyrannical superpower off this land to be free? Many died for the idea of self-government.

Did you remember them?

And what of those who said, “Stop” to the mightiest navy in the world when that force was taking U.S. sailors off ships on the high seas? Did you remember them?

It was 1812 and that same colossus we fought to be free wanted to bring our country down. Do you remember that handful of men who defeated the mighty army again at New Orleans?

A terrible war was fought on our own soil to set men free. It almost ended our nation, but we should remember that both sides in the Civil War fought for freedom. This year represents the 150th anniversary of that war. Our own nation’s ground holds at least 618,000 or more of its sons and daughters who gave their lives for what they believed in. Did you remember them?

What of those Marines who fought for freedom against the Barbary pirates in Tripoli to free shipping in the Mediterranean Sea, or those who died in Mexico City assaulting the Chapultepec Fortress? They are the reason Marine NCOs, and officers wear the red stripe on their dress blue trousers. Did you remember them?

Our country has been blessed with the responsibility of defending freedom throughout the world. We stand for freedom wherever it is denied. We have left thousands of our men and women on foreign soil defending freedom other than our own.

World War I and World War II are examples of our nation’s unselfish willingness to stand against tyranny. Our dead are scattered from Europe, to Asia and hundreds of points in between. Did you remember them?

In Korea and Vietnam, our armed forces stood to stop the spread of Communism and the oppression of freedom that it represented. Our nation’s blood flows in such places as the Chosin Reservoir, Inchon, Khe Sanh and Saigon. Did you remember them?

We have sacrificed thousands of men and women to the war on terror. More have been lost since I wrote this column. Did you remember them?

What of the hundreds of law enforcement officers who have given their lives to protect us while we revel in our freedom and celebrate a long, hot, summer’s weekend? Did you remember them?

To you who have lost someone to the cause of freedom, I thank you for your sacrifice. For the rest of us, it is never too late to remember. Wherever you are reading this, take a moment to think on all we have, and those who made it possible. Be grateful; remember.

David Wilson Atwood is a local writer whose human-interest columns offer a unique perspective. He may be contacted, and his other works viewed at www.starchasers.us, or david@starchasers.us.