This Memorial Day, as we take the time to honor the names of those Americans who have fallen in the service of their country, it’s important to remember what their sacrifice truly means.

On this day, we often tend to overlook who these veterans were as individuals in life, and glorify the values and principles for which they fought.

We talk about freedom and democracy; we emphasize the truly heroic struggle against tyranny and oppression; and we pay homage to ideals such as justice and unity that those who were remembered on the first Memorial Day fought for in order to preserve this nation from civil war.

We honor the dead for their courage, their commitment to duty, and their sacrifice. And, perhaps nobody better exemplifies these qualities than the men and women who fought and died in battle.

However, we must remember that their lives weren’t simply defined by some abstract principles, but by the everyday human realities of this world. They didn’t achieve their greatest accomplishments for the sake of death and remembrance, but for the sake of life itself.

Their true glory was not simply on the battlefield, but in their sense of responsibility towards their families and friends, their countrymen and comrades in arms, their fellow human beings. Above all, this was what compelled them to fulfill their duties to the fullest in wartime.

The best way that we can honor their legacy is not just in remembrance of the dead, but by fulfilling our responsibilities to the living today.

As human beings, we all have a commitment to the people in our lives that often requires dedication and sacrifice. As Americans when we talk about values like freedom and democracy, and when we say that young men and women must fight and die to preserve these, we have a responsibility to make sure we truly know what this means.

Those of us that have served in the armed forces feel an intimate bond with the men and women serving today. Those of us who have family and loved ones in the service today, or in the past, understand all to well the sacrifices and demands of war.

And, those of us who have so far been spared immediate involvement can still look upon the conflicts we currently face today with a sense of urgency and compassion.

All of us are united in our concern that next year, the list of honored dead not be any longer than it has to be, and that none of the soldiers, airmen, sailors, and marines living today be sent unnecessarily into harms way.

In the last century, President John F. Kennedy spoke of circumstances unfortunately still confront us today.

He said: “we must face the fact that the United States is neither omnipotent or omniscient, that we are only 6 percent of the world’s population, that we cannot impose our will upon the other 94 percent of mankind, that we cannot right every wrong or reverse each adversity, and that therefore there cannot be an American solution to every world problem.”

He also warned us against those who would urge upon us “the pathway of war,” those who equate “negotiations with appeasement” and who substitute “rigidity for firmness.”

There is no question that are times when we need to defend ourselves and our nation against those who would seek to do us harm, and that this may require that some fight and die for this cause.

But, for the sake of the living, we must also be vigilant against those who are too eager to march us off to war in the name of overly-simplistic ideologies, or for the narrowly defined self-interests of a wealthy few.  We must make it clear that no nation, no state, no organization, and no individual has the right to demand that human life be taken unless life itself is clearly and immediately threatened.

So this Memorial Day, as we honor and remember the sacrifices of the fallen, let us not forget who they were in life. They were fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters, sons and daughters, and friends and companions. 

Above all, let us also remember that they were men and women with a sense of duty and commitment. While they may not have lived and died for abstract principles, the shared values that define us all as Americans shaped their destiny all the same.

The best way we can honor them is to follow the example of their commitment, not by continuing to add names to the lists of the dead, but by ensuring that as citizens we guide this nation on a path that preserves peace, justice, and unity for the living.

This is our most important duty today, and for the rest of our lives.