Los Angeles National Cemetery, 9 a.m. May 30, 2011 (JCI Photo). There are a total of 85,000 graves there, in a cemetery that was built in 1889, at a time when the western part of Los Angeles was almost entirely vacant land. Now the cemetery is surrounded by UCLA and the huge Getty Museum, and the expansive area of Westwood, part of the gifts of freedom our military guaranteed for us. More here.
As we remember those who fell while preserving for us the freedom we enjoy and seeking to extend it to others, it is worth recalling George W. Bush’s 2007 Memorial Day Address at Arlington National Cemetery. The speech noted the sheer numbers of Americans who have sacrificed their lives in that endeavor:
For seven generations, we have carried our fallen to these fields. Here rest some 360,000 Americans who died fighting to preserve the Union and end slavery. Here rest some 500,000 Americans who perished in two world wars to conquer tyrannies and build free nations from their ruins. Here rest some 90,000 Americans who gave their lives to confront Communist aggression in places such as Korea and Vietnam. . . .
Now this hallowed ground receives a new generation of heroes — men and women who gave their lives in places such as Kabul and Kandahar, Baghdad and Ramadi. Like those who came before them, they did not want war — but they answered the call when it came. They believed in something larger than themselves. . . .
The greatest memorial to our fallen troops cannot be found in the words we say or the places we gather. The more lasting tribute is all around us — a country where citizens have the right to worship as they want, to march for what they believe, and to say what they think. . . . On this Day of Memory, we mourn brave citizens who laid their lives down for our freedom. They lived and died as Americans. May we always honor them.
