Honoring Those who Serve on Memorial Day

Statement

This weekend, America salutes the men and women of the armed services who paid the ultimate sacrifice to protect this country. Congressman Tim Murphy (PA-18) released the following statement paying tribute to our fallen heroes, veterans, and those serving our country today.

"For all of those who have ever put on the uniform, those that have fallen, those that returned home, and those serving today, we offer the eternal thanks of a grateful nation. This weekend we pause remember the sacrifice of these men and women so that we may enjoy the freedom shared today with our families.

"Some credit Boalsburg, Pennsylvania as the birthplace of Memorial Day in October 1864. According to the story, a young girl was taking flowers to her father's grave, a surgeon in the Union Army, when she met the mother of a young soldier killed at Gettysburg. Together they mourned. Before leaving, the two agreed to meet again at the cemetery the next year, not just in tribute to those they lost, but for all those who died serving. The story spread through all the small town, and on the following July 4, it was not just the two women who visited the cemetery, but the whole community of Boalsburg.

"This weekend strangers will once again meet by the graves of fallen loved ones under the saddest of circumstances. This scene will play out from the National Cemetery of the Alleghenies and Arlington National Cemetery to hundreds of smaller cemeteries across the country. Let the families of fallen loved ones feel the comfort of this nation, not just this weekend, not just while we are at war, but for eternity."

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