GREENSBORO, N.C. — It's time for 'My 2 Cents.'
As we approach Memorial Day weekend - most of us think about the day off we will get Monday. Maybe some are ready to celebrate the unofficial start of summer. Perhaps Memorial Day means deals on furniture or TVs or appliances. But at some point during the next few days, I hope you'll remember what the last Monday in May really means.
I could tell you the history of Memorial Day - how it became an official federal holiday in 1971 as a way to commemorate the members of our military who died in all wars.
I could tell you how it's typically marked by trips to military graves and placing flags and wreaths on memorials.
Or, I could let a military family tell you what it means to them. We spoke to Cindy and Harry Youngblood back in 2018 at a Memorial Day event. Their son, Marine Sgt. Lenny Youngblood, spent four tours in Afghanistan and Iraq. He died in 2016.
"To know that he sacrificed his life for us to be able to be what we do what we do is an honor and we made a pledge, I made a pledge to him while he was laying there that his life would be carried on and his memory would be carried on through stuff that we do in the future," Harry Youngblood said.
The Youngbloods started Hero's Ride - a nonprofit that carries the flag-draped casket during any veteran's funeral.
Memorial Day means something different for their family and the countless others who lost the person they love most. This weekend we owe it to them to take a moment and remember that freedom is not free.