Many Americans have children, fathers, mothers, grandparents, other family members and friends who have served in the armed forces. For these individuals, they understand the importance of protecting this country because of the sacrifices these American servicemen and women have made for us as citizens of this great nation.

In our home, we have a wall of honor. This wall honors my father, LeRoy C. Hoagland, my father-in-law, Richard Smith, my husband, Kenneth R. Smith and my step-son Korbet Smith. On this wall are their pictures, their medals and for two of them, the flags presented to the family upon their deaths. Three of these men served in two wars, WWII and Vietnam. One of them, my father, received the Purple Heart from the largest naval battle in history, the Battle of Leyte Gulf. He was left to die on the beach because of the severity of his wounds. However, 24 hours later, a medic realized he was still alive and transported him to a medical ship bound for Australia. Dad was airlifted to San Diego, CA where he spent 2 years and faced over 10 major operations.

As we celebrate this day of prayer and remembrance, we must recognize that without the sacrifices of past and current service personnel, we would not have the opportunity to be the greatest country in the world. Even though today is a national day of recognition for those honorable women and men, we all should take a few moments every day to offer prays for these courageous individuals. For it is the walls of honor within those American families that allow us to still hold these truths to be self-evident.