Throughout our nation there are stone monuments on whose surfaces are engraved the names of the honored men and women who have made the supreme sacrifice.

I recently took the opportunity to stand beside such a monument in my own community and reflect for a while. Standing there, reading and touching the names, I was filled with a sense of melancholy and pride. Melancholy over how many had sacrificed their lives, and pride in our nation and the commitment that so many of its people have made to freedom.

When viewing these memorials some things become abundantly clear. You begin to understand that heroes are not defined on playing fields or on the screens of movie theaters. Rather, they are shaped in our cities and hamlets. They are inspired by those around them, and their memory is perpetuated by those that they have served and died for. What a glorious legacy these heroes are.

This Memorial Day we honor the memory of these heroic men and women. Their legacy of courage and freedom will forever be with us.

Paul Tobin
President
United Spinal Association