Memorial Day. I often make the mistake of waking up in the morning, putting our flag up on its post outside the house, and thinking how lucky we are to live in America. Then I take a closer look at the flag. And I realize again that it’s much more than luck. The flag was sent to me by a guy who’s probably reading this right now. He used to listen to me on the radio a long time ago, and he found the blogs and podcasts on the internet. I’ve never met him in person. But he’s one of the reasons it isn’t just luck that we live in this blessed place. He wrote with a felt pen on the white space where the flag attaches to the line that runs it up the pole. His message says, “This flag flew over Camp Adder. Iraq. 2006.” Come to think about it…and I should more often think about it…there’s a another flag folded into the wooden triangle on the wall of our living room. It’s in honor of my Lady’s late brother Bob. As soon as I finish typing this, I’m going to call my brother Jeff in Texas. He never talks about what he did to deserve a Bronze Star and a Purple Heart in Vietnam. It’s a lot more than luck, that we live in this safe, beautiful, powerful place. It’s a lot more than luck that we have such men…and women…to thank. And how can we best honor them? Parades are good. And speeches. And even small tributes like this. But there is a line in one of our American songs that I think needs more attention today…and much more respect than it has received lately. It goes like this: “…And crown thy good with brotherhood, from sea to shining sea.” In Memoriam.