Memorial Day

Floor Speech

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Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. President, last week, I received the very sad news that the 5th Special Forces Group, which is stationed at Fort Campbell, which is in Tennessee, was going to have to forgo and cancel their annual Memorial Day Gold Star Ceremony. This is a tradition at the post. It is something that is so special to those Gold Star families, and we are disappointed with that but understand.

I have really been pleased that today Senator Ernst has organized a time for us to come to the floor to really come together to honor not only our fallen but also their loved ones, who have had to spend this year's remembrance separated from other Gold Star families, and we know that is a time they cherish, having that togetherness.

Although the formal ceremonies are canceled, please note that each of these families is in our prayers, they are in our thoughts, and that we grieve alongside them.

This Memorial Day, reflections are framed by a world that has really been made much smaller by our shared experiences with COVID-19. Even so, the state of our world makes the battlefields we send our soldiers and sailors and airmen and marines to seem very far away because in their world, authoritarian regimes rule with an iron fist, and they violate human rights with impunity. Violence often replaces diplomacy as the preferred method of dispute resolution and freedom, when it is discussed at all. Many times, it feels like an impossibility. This is what they deal with on a daily basis.

The danger this creates is no secret to anyone. Like the rest of us, our soldiers read the news reports from the frontlines. They hear the enemy propaganda. They hear those who repeat the enemy propaganda. Many of them have experienced the ferocity of the enemy attacks against our forces and against our allies. They know what they are up against. They see it and they live it each and every day. Yet, in spite of the danger, they answer the call because they have something inside them that says that freedom is worth fighting for. It is their commitment to that cause of liberty to allow us to live in a free and open society, to allow us and our children to pursue those dreams, to dream those big dreams and to make them come true.

Whether we lost loved ones and friends on the battlefield or, later, lost them to the trauma of combat and loss, this weekend, we thank them for their sacrifice, we honor their memory, and we express our gratitude to their families, who this year will have to celebrate as a family and not with others.

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