Brian Mast: “I rise on the heels of Memorial Day to discuss what we must learn from those we specifically remember on this and every…”

“I rise on the heels of Memorial Day to discuss what we must learn from those we specifically remember on this and every Memorial Day going forward. All among us, every single person in this Chamber, every single person that visits here, we all have those days of the year where the history that is buried down deep inside of us is stirred up for whatever reason that may be. For some of us maybe it is that we lost a loved one right around Christmas and now we can't get through the holidays without remembering that person each year and the ways in which that person touched our life. Maybe for others it was right around your birthday when you lost a loved one or somebody passed, and on each year on the celebration of your own life, you find yourself remembering the loss of that life, the loss of that friend. Maybe for you that history is buried down inside and gets stirred up because of a certain smell in the air that brings you back to a time and place in your life. It can be hearing a special song that had meaning and somehow connected that person to you. For others, maybe it is driving past a certain restaurant or an intersection or a park that really weighs heavily on your heart. I find those feelings each and every day as I look down at my wrist and I read these bracelets with the names of friends who left this world in the most honorable way that any person can: in defense of our Nation. Men like Army Ranger Medic Jonathan Peney.…”