Dust on the Dashboard: Remembering fallen heroes -

I could blame it on a busy schedule and losing track of the week ahead. While that might be true, it is a very poor excuse. We should not relegate the memories of our fallen heroes to just one day; the memory of their sacrifice should be remembered each and every day we live our lives with the freedom to live them the way we choose.

Glenn Brunkow

The moment that struck me the hardest was Monday morning. My daughter Tatum was playing softball in Wichita, for the first tournament of the summer schedule. There are very few things in life that I enjoy more than watching Tatum play softball. The tournament was scheduled for Saturday and Sunday, leaving Monday for Memorial Day ceremonies.

Then came the rains and the tournament schedule changed. Now instead of playing on Saturday and Sunday, we were postponed until Sunday and Monday. Sunday was a long day with six games, and we were back at it early Monday morning. The sun came up that morning and it was nearly perfect. I sat in my chair watching the girls warm up, thinking life does not get better than this.

Then it hit me. If I had been home like I had planned, we would be hustling around doing chores and getting ready to go into Wamego to the Memorial Day service. Oh, I know I was in the majority of people who viewed the Monday of Memorial Day weekend as just another bonus holiday – a Monday to spend at the lake relaxing or at the ball field.

Don’t get me wrong; there is nothing wrong with using the third day of the weekend to relax and enjoy life – nothing wrong with it as long as we remember what the day is about. I don’t think I understood what Memorial Day was really all about until just a few years ago. Years blur together, but I remember Forrest’s funeral service like it was yesterday. I said then and I will say it again: A soldier’s funeral is something no one should ever have to go through and something we should all attend. It will change your life; it changed mine.

I also clearly remember the first Memorial Day ceremony I went to after Forrest was killed. I remember watching his family and thinking about all he had left behind to protect my family. I still get choked up thinking about his wife and daughters. He had so much to live for, and yet he died defending my freedoms and protecting my family. Memorial Day suddenly had become much more than a three-day holiday to me. It was a special day to honor the bravest of all of our heroes.

Fast forward to 2016 and there I sat in my comfortable lawn chair watching a softball game. Did that make me a terrible person? I certainly hope not. Please don’t misunderstand me either – if you were somewhere similar, I am not chastising you. Instead I am merely putting the idea out that we all should take time out of our lives and remember all of our veterans and especially those like SFC Forrest Robertson who made that ultimate sacrifice.

Memorial Day is not just about ball tournaments, weekends at the lake, family picnics or any other recreational activity. Those things are important, and we should spend our time relaxing and enjoying the company of friends and family. We have that freedom because of heroes like SFC Robertson, and that is something we should not forget.

In fact, remembering our heroes should not be something we do once a year. Each day we get out of bed and have the freedom to choose what we do, where we live, what we say and how we worship, we should remember them. On Memorial Day, that memory should be front and center, and we should pause our day to focus on the true meaning of the day.

We ended the day coming home, unpacking and going into Wendy’s that night to have a Frosty (Wendy’s had made the pledge to donate a portion of every Frosty sold on Memorial Day weekend) in memory of SFC Forrest (Frosty) Robertson. I know it was not much, but in some small way, I felt like I was remembering him. I promise that I will never forget the sacrifice made by those who gave it all.