{"id":67300,"date":"2022-05-30T13:45:50","date_gmt":"2022-05-30T13:45:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/uncategorized\/2022\/05\/30\/on-a-peaceful-memorial-day-remember-to-honor-the-costs-of-war\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T13:21:25","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T13:21:25","slug":"on-a-peaceful-memorial-day-remember-to-honor-the-costs-of-war","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/opinion\/2022\/05\/30\/on-a-peaceful-memorial-day-remember-to-honor-the-costs-of-war\/","title":{"rendered":"On a peaceful Memorial Day, remember to honor the costs of war"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

For military families like mine, this Memorial Day is going to feel a little different.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We will still gather to honor our loved ones who made the ultimate sacrifice for our nation \u2014 those like my brother Travis<\/a>, killed in combat 15 years ago defending his fellow Marines in Iraq. We will still feel the pain of their loss and the warmth of their memory. But strange as it may seem, it will be hard to escape a sense of peace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since the withdrawal of our troops from Afghanistan last summer, this year will mark the first Memorial Day in 20 years when our country is not at war. It will be our first Memorial Day at peace in decades. Our men and women in uniform continue to serve around the world \u2014 and here at home \u2014 putting their lives on the line to defend our freedom, but with the conclusion of the mission in Afghanistan they are no longer engaged in combat. That means far fewer knocks at the door, and far fewer flags that arrive draped over coffins to be later folded and handed to grieving families at places like Arlington National Cemetery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Marine Corps 1st Lt. Travis Manion was killed in Iraq’s Anbar province April 29, 2007. (Courtesy of the Travis Manion Foundation)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

For the families who lost relatives in our recent conflicts like Iraq and Afghanistan \u2014 for those whose loved ones are buried, like my brother, in Section 60 of Arlington \u2014 this Memorial Day will be especially poignant. Many of the young children of the fallen have never known their country to not be at war. It is the challenge of those families to make sure that a nation at peace does not lose sight of the sacrifices of war. All Americans should remember that while we may not see footage of our troops in combat regularly flashed across our TV or computer screens, the effects of those wars are felt by millions of our fellow countrymen.<\/p>\n\n\n\t