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A Memorial Day Column by Congressman Chet Edwards

For 141 years, Americans have paused on the last Monday of May to remember and honor those brave Americans who have made the ultimate sacrifice in service to country. This tradition began on May 5, 1868 when the Grand Army of the Republic established Memorial Day as the national day to decorate the graves of the Civil War soldiers with flowers. General and Mrs. Ulysses S. Grant presided over the first observance of Memorial Day at Arlington National Cemetery where over 20,000 Union dead and several hundred Confederate dead had been laid to rest.

Today, with a solemn spirit and humble gratitude, we pay tribute to the true American heroes who have given their lives in service to this great nation. One such hero is Marine Gunnery Sergeant John David Fry, a 28-year-old father of three young children, and loving husband. To hear Sergeant Fry’s story of service and sacrifice for country is to peer into the soul of the American spirit. Many of us talk of patriotism. Sergeant Fry personified it. His story is a monument of inspiration to all who hear it.

Born in Lorena in 1977, John David Fry joined the Marines to serve his country at the age of 18. At the time, the Marines were looking for a few good men. In him, they found the best of the best. In September 2005, Sergeant Fry was deployed to Iraq from Camp Lejeune , North Carolina . Sgt. Fry chose to become an explosive ordinance disposal technician, an EOD, knowing full well that he was putting himself in serious danger in order to protect the lives of his fellow Marines.

While in Iraq , Sergeant Fry saved countless lives by rendering safe numerous bombs, including one of the largest car bombs found in Fallujah. He once went into a home to find a bomb strapped to a mentally retarded young Iraqi boy, who had been beaten and chained to a wall. Sergeant Fry bravely risked his life to save the life of someone else’s child in a foreign land. That is the kind of person he was. Sergeant Fry even turned down a Bronze Star and a ticket out of Iraq after a serious wound. He felt he was just doing his duty.

Have you ever noticed how humble the true heroes are?

Seven short days before this 28-year-old Marine with a wife and three young children was to be sent back home, he volunteered, when he didn’t have to, to defuse one more explosive device, this time in Al Anbar province. Sergeant Fry found three bombs that night and defused all of them, but the insurgents had hidden a fourth bomb. It exploded and this brave Marine who had saved so many lives, gave his own life so that others might live and all Americans could live in freedom. Lincoln would have called his sacrifice the “last full measure of devotion.” The Bible describes it as “the greatest love of all.” Sergeant Fry would have called it just doing his duty.

Sergeant Fry wasn’t the only one to sacrifice for his country that night. His mother lost a son. His wife lost her husband, and his three children lost their loving father. Only the heart can measure the depth of that kind of sacrifice. Our military families may not have worn our nation’s uniform, but they have surely served our country through their deep, personal sacrifice. We not only honor the loss of their loved ones on Memorial Day, we honor them.

We can never fully repay our troops and veterans for their sacrifice, but we have a moral obligation to keep our promises and provide those who serve with the quality health care and benefits they have earned. Our servicemen and women have kept their promises to us. It’s now up to us to keep our promises to them.

How blessed we are to live in a land, where from each generation, ordinary citizens like John David Fry have been willing to make extraordinary sacrifices as they answer our nation’s call to duty. This Memorial Day, take time to honor and remember America ‘s soldiers, veterans and their families. They are bearing the heaviest burden for us and we must never forget it.

Edwards is the Chairman of the House Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations Subcommittee.