Hi, this is State Senator Andre Jacque.
As we gather this Memorial Day weekend, we pause to remember the brave men and women who gave their lives in service to our country — those who surrendered their own hopes and dreams so that future generations of Americans could live in freedom.
Memorial Day has always been deeply personal to me. My great-uncle Jerome Ripperda was killed during the Battle of the Bulge in World War II. Though I never had the chance to meet him, his memory has always been present in my family — not simply as a soldier, but as a kind and faithful young man whose life was cut tragically short in defense of others. He had gotten engaged to a local girl before he shipped out. His fiancee never married – she said she’d never find another man like my great Uncle Jerome, and she never did.
His story is one of countless others. Behind every name engraved on a monument or marked by a flag is a family that carried on without a son, daughter, spouse, parent, or friend.
War is a terrible thing. But the courage, sacrifice, and selflessness shown by those who serve remind us that freedom is never free.
So this Memorial Day, as we spend time with loved ones and enjoy the blessings of liberty, let us also take time to remember those who made those blessings possible. May God bless our fallen heroes, their families, our veterans, and the United States of America.
