{"quotes":[{"text":"This country has not seen and probably will never know the true level of sacrifice of our veterans. As a civilian I owe an unpayable debt to all our military. Going forward let’s not send our servicemen and women off to war or conflict zones unless it is overwhelmingly justifiable and on moral high ground. The men of WWII were the greatest generation, perhaps Korea the forgotten, Vietnam the trampled, Cold War unsung and Iraqi Freedom and Afghanistan vets underestimated. Every generation has proved itself to be worthy to stand up to the precedent of the greatest generation. Going back to the Revolution American soldiers have been the best in the world. Let’s all take a remembrance for all veterans who served or are serving, peace time or wartime and gone or still with us. 11/11/16 May God Bless America and All Veterans.","author":"Thomas M Smith","tags":["afghanistan","airforce","america","army","coast-guard","coastguard","cold-war","combat","courage","freedom","honor","independence","iraq","korea","marine-corp","marines","memorial","memorial-day","military","navy","pj-s","rangers","revolution","revolutionary","sacrifice","seals","selflessness","service","socom","sof","veteran","veterans","vietnam","war"],"id":12582,"author_id":"Thomas+M+Smith"},{"text":"As individuals die every moment, how insensitive and fabricated a love it is to set aside a day from selfish routine in prideful, patriotic commemoration of tragedy. Just as God is provoked by those who tithe simply because they feel that they must tithe, I am provoked by those who commemorate simply because they feel that they must commemorate.","author":"Criss Jami","tags":["bandwagon","commemorate","commemoration","culture","day","death","fabrication","falsehood","god","holiday","honest","individual","insensitivity","insincere","love","lovelessness","memorial","memorial-day","memories","memory","nationalism","patriot","patriotic","patriotism","pop","pop-culture","popular","popular-culture","pride","routine","selfishness","society","tithe","tragedy","universal","vanity"],"id":41297,"author_id":"Criss+Jami"},{"text":"To be ignorant of the sacrifices of others that yielded the blessings I enjoy leaves me exchanging the reality of 'blessing' for the assumption of 'entitlement.' And once that happens, I will forfeit the reality of the former which will destroy the assumption of the latter. And in what terribly dark place will that now leave me?","author":"Craig D. Lounsbrough","tags":["america","appreciate","appreciation","assumption","blessing","blessings","cherish","cherishing","entitled","entitlement","fourth-of-july","gift","gifts","give","giving","memorial-day","reality","sacred","sacrifices","sacrificing","united-states","united-states-of-america","value"],"id":65884,"author_id":"Craig+D.+Lounsbrough"},{"text":"While we tediously check our weaponry before entering into battle, do we check our hearts? For without exception, that is the greatest weapon of all.","author":"Craig D. Lounsbrough","tags":["attitude","battle","fourth-of-july","heart","memorial-day","patriot","patriotic","patriotism","sacrifice","sacrificial","weapon","weapons"],"id":99352,"author_id":"Craig+D.+Lounsbrough"},{"text":"Despite how utterly massive they might be, it is never the size of the arsenal nor the strength of the warrior. Rather, it is a heart bent on sacrifice that is the most potent weapon of all.","author":"Craig D. Lounsbrough","tags":["arsenal","attitude","battle","fourth-of-july","give","giving","heart","memorial-day","patriot","patriotic","patriotism","perspective","priorities","priority","sacrifice","sacrificial","warrior","weapon","weapons"],"id":128149,"author_id":"Craig+D.+Lounsbrough"},{"text":"Missing someone is the reverberating echo of everything beautiful about her—her laugh, her song, her touch, her smell, the power of her words, and the constant shadow that lingers on as her perfect image in your memory.","author":"Richelle E. Goodrich","tags":["loneliness","memorial-day","memory","missing-someone","reminiscing","richelle","richelle-e-goodrich","richelle-goodrich"],"id":139439,"author_id":"Richelle+E.+Goodrich"},{"text":"It is my wish and most cherished hope that God would be pleased with my legacy, that lives would be changed by it, and that the world would be immeasurably better because I was privileged to leave a legacy at all. And if perchance I am fortunate enough to have these things come to pass, I can then rest in the fact that I have lived well.","author":"Craig D. Lounsbrough","tags":["god","impact","influence","legacies","legacy","lives","memorial","memorial-day","memories","transformation","world"],"id":239800,"author_id":"Craig+D.+Lounsbrough"},{"text":"The effects of loss are acute, and unique to each individual. Not everyone mourns in the same way, but everyone mourns.","author":"Richelle E. Goodrich","tags":["death","losing-someone","loss","memorial","memorial-day","mourn","mourning","richelle","richelle-e-goodrich","richelle-goodrich"],"id":288841,"author_id":"Richelle+E.+Goodrich"},{"text":"We'd like to think that it is not our fault great men and women died fighting for the security of our nation and safety of our communities. But we know this not to be true. They commited their lives for us in instances where either we were too afraid to do it ourselves or failed to find alternate solutions on our own. We enjoy the fruits of their ultimate sacrifice and owe their families a heartfelt thanks and apology everyday.","author":"D'Andre Lampkin","tags":["memorial-day","police","sacrifice","soldiers","thanks","thanksgiving"],"id":290432,"author_id":"D%27Andre+Lampkin"},{"text":"You are silent now who once stood on battlefields ravaged by destruction unimaginable, holding in those desperate places the line of freedom for others you would never know, and who would never know you. And being one of those you never knew, I would give all I have to clasp your hand one single time, look into eyes that witnessed the bloodied carnage that results when freedom refuses to bow to chains of any kind, and simply say 'thank you.","author":"Craig D. Lounsbrough","tags":["combat","fourth-of-july","freedom","memorial-day","military","patriotic","sacrifice","war"],"id":298365,"author_id":"Craig+D.+Lounsbrough"}],"pagination":{"page":1,"page_size":10,"total":24,"pages":3,"next":"?page=2\u0026page_size=10"}}