Memorial Day: Recall Their Valor

An American flag is reflected in Teresa Alaimo’s sunglasses as she pauses for a rendition of “Taps” during a Memorial Day ceremony, Monday, May 27, 2019, at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

These remarks were prepared by Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Mark Blumstein, who gave the keynote speech at Key Biscayne’s Memorial Day Service.

Members of American Legion Post 374, mayor of Key Biscayne Michael Davey,  other dignitaries present, veterans, their families and my fellow Floridians and Americans,

Throughout America today, we honor the dead of our wars. We recall their valor and their sacrifices. We remember they gave their lives so that others might live in the pursuit of the principles we all hold dear, namely justice, freedom and democracy.  Justice is not the decision reached by a judge or jury. Justice is truly the fair process by which each side is given the opportunity to present its side of a dispute to reach a result or decision. Freedom is the right or power to act, speak or think as one wants without hindrance or restraint. Democracy is a system of government by the whole population through duly elected representatives.

We remember the first Allied soldiers to land in Normandy, France during World War II, who came not from the sea, but from the sky. They were called Pathfinders, the first paratroopers to make the jump. Deep in the darkness, they descended upon the fields of Normandy to light beacons for the airborne assaults that would soon follow.

More recently, we remember a local hero named Sgt. Ladavid Johnson of Miami Gardens, Florida. According to news reports, just three years following his enlistment in the U.S. Army, Johnson set out in 2017 for his second tour of duty in Africa. (I too served in Africa just about four years ago.) He was killed in October 2017 in southwest Niger behind enemy lines when he and three other soldiers came under fire from suspected members of the so-called Islamic State group.

We remember the Unknown Soldier. About whom we wonder, as others have: As a child, did he or she play on some street in a great American city? Or did he or she work beside a parent on a farm in America’s heartland? Did he or she marry? Have children? Did he or she look expectantly to return to a bride or husband?

These service members who sacrificed their lives for justice, freedom and democracy must never be forgotten.

These service members who sacrificed their lives for justice, freedom and democracy must strengthen our resolve to better our system of justice, our collective freedom and our republic.

These service members who sacrificed their lives must encourage us to remain united as a people pledging, under this flag, to be one nation, under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all.