These are the times that try men's souls.

In preparation for this year's remarks at the Memorial Day service at Palo's cemetary, I decided to contemplate Thomas Paine's famous words of encouragement to the Continental Army during its difficult winter at Valley Forge (1776-77). Washington was so impressed with the powerful words that he had them read to his whole army. With so many American soldiers stationed in harm's way, the memory of how these Patriots overcame much more difficult odds through dedication and faith, can offer us assurance in our own time of trial. The War on Terror may continue for years to come, but America will prove victorious precisely because of her willingness to send young men and women to the ends of the Earth in pursuit of freedom. As Thomas Paine wrote, "The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman." Indeed they do, the modern American army is an all volunteer force, just like the men who stood with Washington in America's darkest hour. They fought for an ideal that they valued higher than their own lives. Today, America's soldiers fight abroad to extend the same freedom that American now enjoy to people who have only known oppression and terror. You won't hear this side of the story from many Western intellectuals who prefer to paint these young men and women as modern Imperialists, but their disdain does not make the cause any less noble. This Memorial Day, as you hopefully visit your local cemetary to pay your respects to the veterans whose past sacrifices helped make our world the more free than at any point in human history, don't forget to say a prayer to Almighty God to protect those same men and women who proudly today wear the uniform of the United States military. As Paine wrote, "it would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as Freedom should not be highly rated."