Newspapers carry full page advertisements, stores are open for sales; but post offices do not function, banks do not operate, government offices are closed. 

This could be any one of our long weekends, and to many that is all that it is indeed.

So many have no knowledge of long-ago history.

So many have no memory of history in their lifetime. 

So many could remember if they cared enough to do so. 

But so many do not. 

So many never will.

You are forgotten, my brothers and sisters – forgotten by so many politicians who have never walked in your boots nor traveled the roads you have traveled, nor sacrificed even a small part of the things you have – forgotten by many of the citizenry who bore you and to whom you swore defense regardless of your cost.

Some of the very leaders to whom you swore allegiance and obedience have turned on you, though some no more so than when you served, abandoning you and those loved ones you left behind. 

Some continue their disloyalty even to this day, disloyal to our younger brothers and sisters and their families, those who continue the cause despite the history of turncoat civilian and military leadership alike, those disloyal and disrespectful of those who serve.   

But rest easy, my friends, for some do care.  We may be few, but we care.  We know of the cost.  We have smelled the threat; we have seen the fog; we have felt the heat of sacrifice. 

We have shared the loss.

We remember.

Rest easy, as the distant lone bugle calls in my mind.

Day is done,
gone the sun,
from the lakes,
from the hills,
from the sky,
all is well,
safely, rest,
God is near.

Fading light,
Dims the sight,
And a star gems the sky
Gleaming bright,
From afar,
Drawing, near,
Falls the night.

Thanks and praise,
For our days,
Neath the sun
Neath the stars
Neath the sky,
As we go,
This, we, know,
God is near.

24 notes of Taps, my friends, my brothers and sisters, just 24 notes.

But three more than a Presidential volley.

It is fitting.

I remember.

Sometimes in my awareness, and sometimes in my dreams,

I remember.