For nearly  250 years Americans have fought to gain or maintain the ground of liberty. For the first handful of conflicts that our nation faced, men laid down their lives inch after inch with the prospect of a freedom long in the distance. In our lifetimes, and the lifetimes of our fathers and grandfathers, men died in the breach to prevent the ceding of these precious inches.

This is why Memorial Day is worth observing.

Grilling, baseball, and fly fishing might seem trivial in the grand scheme of things. Then again, these are the joyful pursuits of a civilization benefitting from secured freedom. It is hard to imagine the same figures who made the ultimate sacrifice desiring their descendants living lives characterized by solemnity and austerity.

It is also a great reminder that the trials and conflicts that we are presently enduring within the context of our culture are only  possible because of liberty. Hyperbole is a well in which we frequently drop our buckets. We would do well to remember that the incessant squabbling and criticism  of doesn’t happen in fascist, communist, or other totalitarian settings. This isn’t to say that there arnen’t causes for concern. It is a reminder that our concerns can be voiced; that they can be considered with hope.

Casting Across honors the individuals who gave all they could give in service of their country.