Sacrifice is the true road to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. We forget this all too often. Forget those brave men and women who gave everything so we could have something.

Our veterans are the foundation this country was built on. They are the reason we have freedom, the reason we can choose.

Whether they died on the field of battle or years after the fight ended; whether they survived the horrors of war or have been discharged, every one of them knows what the word “sacrifice” means.

It is not so much an act as a vision for the future.

What are we willing to risk for the good of our nation? Veterans risked everything. Gave everything. Some saw the fruits of their labors, others saw death on one of countless battlefields across the globe. Firefights, skirmishes, ambushes, charges, dogfights that have been forgotten by virtually everyone who wasn’t there or who hasn’t refreshed themselves on United States military history as of late.

We hope the community will join us this Monday to honor all of our brothers and sisters who rest where the poppies grow and we salute all who went to the brink of Flanders Field and came back safe.