Every Memorial Day, thousands of citizens visit military graves, raise their flags, and pause in a moment of silence. We perform these traditions not to celebrate our victories in war, but to honor those who never came home.

Memorial Day traces its roots back to the Civil War. Families in both the South and North mourned their brothers, fathers, and sons. Although the war was over, the division in our nation remained. Neighbors looked upon each other with suspicion, and the wounds of our country were still fresh. Yet in the middle of that resentment, something incredible occurred… a group of women known as the Ladies Memorial Association decorated the graves of not only their own Confederate soldiers, but Union soldiers as well—men they had once considered their enemies. In that moment, those women chose to set aside their divisions to honor the soldiers’ sacrifice.

Today, our country once again faces deep division: Republican versus Democrat, liberal versus conservative, rich versus poor. But here on Memorial Day, we are given the opportunity to forget our differences and honor our shared identity as Americans instead—an identity forged by the freedom to live, speak, and chase our dreams without fear. Yet that liberty was inherited at a cost.

We stand here free because of the father who never walked his daughter down the aisle, because of the sister who never again sat at the family Christmas dinner, because of the son who never hugged his mother upon his return. 

Memorial Day asks us to remember that the freedoms of our nation have never been free. We remember the fallen not for their differences, but for what united them… a heart willing to pay the cost of liberty for a stranger—a stranger like me or you. So today, we gather not in division, but as one nation to honor them and their legacy of sacrifice.

Good evening everyone, thank you all for being here, my name is Derek Su, I am a high school senior, I work with Post 186 who requested that I speak here today. I want to start this speech today by asking you to look at the flag and ask yourself what does it mean to you, go one step further and ask yourself what does this day mean to you. Because for most of us, Memorial Day signals the start of summer, a long weekend away from work, or in my case school, backyard barbecues with neighbors, and tossing a football with family. Growing up that’s all I thought Memorial Day was, a time to celebrate. But if we pause to look past the smoke of the grills and the comfort of our routines, a different picture emerges. Let me show you what I mean through a story.

I participated in the Legion’s premier program Boys Nation, where they took the top two men from each state and threw us together in Washington DC. There we met with multiple congressmen and women, the tomb of the unknown soldier guards, secretary of defense Pete Hegseth and so many more political figures. However one of the most impactful speakers was a veteran from Oklahoma. He told us about a soldier he knew who served in Afghanistan with him and his unit stumbled upon an IED in a vehicle. The blast killed most of the unit. While our speaker was attempting to help him and take him back to the nearest Combat Outpost he looked back to see the soldier's leg was gone and his bone was exposed with blood gushing everywhere.

The speaker told us this story because he wanted to ask us the same question I asked you today: how you see the American flag? Look up at the flag again with me, because when he looks at the white stripes, he sees the exposed bone of that soldier's wound. When he sees the red, he sees the blood trailing in the dust behind him. When he sees the blue field, he sees the tears shed by the families whose loved ones never made it home. And when he sees the stars, he doesn’t see each of them representing a state, he sees each one as the soul of a person who gave everything.

Some people look at the flag in appreciation, some look at the flag with remembrance, some look at the flag with apathy, and some with disgust, but yet all, all people get the freedoms that our flag gives us. Because truth be told, those of us who didn’t sacrifice for the flag see it as simply the freedom it gives us. We see the beautiful, unburdened freedom we enjoy every day here in Seattle.

But Memorial Day serves to remind us that our easy freedoms are only possible because of agonizing sacrifices.  On Veterans Day, we celebrate the living. But today, our eyes turn to those who did not return. As you look at the flag today, ask yourself once more: What do you see? And more importantly: What will you do for it?"

Good afternoon members of Cathay Post, Mayor Wilson, distinguished guests, and fellow Americans. It is an honor to speak before you today.

We gather to remember a heavy sacrifice—one borne out of a deep devotion to our country.

That devotion begins with a defining choice. When a service member takes the Oath of Enlistment, they swear to support and defend the Constitution and the laws of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic. Some of you here today may remember a time when you raised your right hand and said those words for yourself. But even for those who haven’t, the duty to uphold those same values—and to honor the ones who died protecting them—belongs to every single one of us.

Regardless of where someone comes from or what their story is, this pledge unifies a single, shared American goal: a common cause of defending the foundation that we stand on. 

On this Memorial Day, two hundred and fifty years after the birth of our nation, we honor those who paid the price to preserve it. When I reflect on that level of devotion to country, the words of the song 'America the Beautiful' come to mind:

O beautiful for heroes proved

In liberating strife

Who more than self their country loved

And mercy more than life

When my generation looks at the peace and opportunities we enjoy today, we have to confront the sobering reality that none of it came without a cost. We are known as the land of the free because of people who loved this country more than their own comfort, more than their own interests, and more than their own lives.

To me, Memorial Day has become not just another holiday or day off from school. It is a day of humility and respect to honor the men and women who stood in the gap to defend our shared American goal. 

For the youth of America, honoring them means actively protecting the foundation they died to support and defend. It means taking up the duty of carrying the torch of remembrance forward, protecting the freedom bought by our fallen heroes, ensuring that their legacy lives on.

From my time spent with the admirable Cathay Post, I have learned that a vital part of carrying this torch comes through promoting civic literacy. If our men and women in uniform died defending the Constitution and the laws of the United States, then our most basic obligation is to understand and recognize what they protected.

The truth is, my generation enjoys a level of peace we didn't earn, provided by people we will never get to meet. We can't repay that debt, but we can respect it. We do that by remembering what they died for, and by promising that as long as we are here, their names and their sacrifices will never be forgotten.

Thank you, and may we always remember.