A Memorial Day tribute

Weekly Republican Radio Address

By Rep. Dillingham

In facing our nation’s greatest threats, heroic men and women have answered the call to service. This weekend, Mainers will take part in remembering the service and sacrifice of our servicemen and women who unfortunately did not make it home. 

Serving one’s country is among the most valiant of pursuits, and we are grateful for those who fell in the name of freedom and independence.

This is Republican Leader Kathleen Dillingham of Oxford. During this week’s Republican Radio Address, please join me in paying tribute to our nation’s fallen heroes. 

In the words of President Abraham Lincoln, we pay our respects to those Americans who “gave the last full measure of devotion to their country.” We are indebted to their sacrifice for it was their faith in our nation’s founding vision of liberty that we are free.

It was their immeasurable sense of patriotism and love of country, that penetrated the darkness of tyranny and oppression, which gave way for our nation’s beacon of hope to shine in every corner of the world. 

We remember our fallen for their heroism on the beaches of Normandy, in the mountains of Afghanistan, throughout the jungles of Vietnam, and in far off lands in between. Their memory live on in our communities and in our grateful hearts. 

We see the cost of freedom by the flags in our cemeteries, the rows of marble at Arlington, and the wreaths on headstones across the world. We can never repay our debt of gratitude; however, in an effort to honor our fallen not just today, but every day here after, we can answer our call to service by placing our hands over our hearts, flags on our porches, and treating all as brothers and sisters in this great experiment of self government and liberty. 

As proud Americans, we owe it to those who did not see if our flag was still over Fort McHenry, or raised on top of Iwo Jima, to continue the vision of preserving our nation that they dedicated their life to defend. They lost their lives so that our nation, and our ideals, may live. 

I hope that we take with us every day that the cost of freedom is never free, and may it serve as our reminder that it is our responsibility to carry on the faith in a free world that they left behind. 

This has been Republican Leader Dillingham with the Weekly Republican Radio Address. Thank you for listening. 

May we never forget and may God bless America.

Prior to being chosen by her peers to lead the House Republican Caucus in 2018, Kathleen Dillingham (R-Oxford) served two terms on the Veterans and Legal Affairs Committee. She is currently the minority leader in the Maine House of Representatives.