Remembering our fallen service members

Theodore Klingensmith is listed Panel 35W - Line 27 of the Vietnam Memorial. Teddy, as he was called, was a cousin of my mother's. He died on January 3, 1969 while serving his country in Vietnam. Teddy was killed before I was even born. I never had a chance to know him, but am proud of him.

In the more than 200 year history of our country, more than 1,004,000 servicemembers have died in the line of duty.

We owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to all of these fallen soldiers for their sacrifice, for the courage, for their honor in defending the very freedom that so many of us take for granted.

We have men and women around the world giving their lives each day so that this nation and our way of life will not perish from the Earth. For that, I am truly grateful. We cry with the families of those fallen soldiers. We mourn their loss, but give thanks that we live in a nation that allows us to follow our dreams.

Today, on Memorial Day, I can't help but think about what this nation, what this world would be like had those soldiers not stepped up in the face of danger and stood their ground. Could we still be ruled by a European power? Could we have split into two countries? Would the Cold War still be going on? Would the terrorists have unleashed even more fury upon American cities?

Despite any differences we all may have, we are all Americans. We should all stand behind our service men and women. We have a right to question our government's policies and actions. But we should not ever show disrespect or anger toward our men and women in uniform for carrying out their orders. We've seen what kind of hurt and animosity that can cause - we saw it as our troops came home from Vietnam, after watching their comrades die in over the skies, in the rice paddies, in the prison camps of Southeast Asia. Never again should we turn our back on them.

When you sit back and watch TV, cruise down the highway in your SUV, eat out at a restaurant, or walk down your local main street just know that men and women are giving their lives so that you can do just that.

Thank you to all our servicemembers, past and present - I am proud of you all.