"Wars are not acts of God. They are caused by man, by man-made institutions, by the way in which man has organized his society. What man has made, man can change."
— Speech at Arlington National Cemetery (Memorial Day, 1945)
 

Tomorrow we celebrate the most solemn of our national holidays. The Memorial Day holiday was officially started in 1868 by veterans of the Grand Army of the Potomac although Waterloo, N.Y., gets the credit for celebrating the first Memorial Day in 1866.

In 1971 Congress officially made it a national holiday.

It is a day where we should all set aside time to reflect on and say a prayer of thanks for every man and woman who has taken up arms in order to protect and defend this grand country of ours.

It is only appropriate that this weekend has become a time of family fun and recreation.

When you see a child smile today or a family enjoying an outing at the beach or a park — when you are drinking a cup of coffee and enjoying reading a copy of The Covington News this morning, pause for a moment and think of the hundreds of thousands of American men and women who have paid the ultimate price of courage and bravery to ensure that we are able to enjoy these special moments.