On Memorial Day, let us remember this: They gave their last breath so we could breathe freely.
That breath is sacred. It should not be wasted on silence, indifference, or division.
True freedom is not something we inherit; it is something we honor daily by how we live.
–Dr. Steve Hudgins, LPCS, NCC, US Army Veteran
The Breath They Gave: A Memorial Day Reflection from a Soldier Who Almost Didn’t Return
There is a silence only the military knows.
Not the silence of a battlefield, but the silence within.
The silence of standing at attention while a flag is folded.
The silence of watching a casket carried by brothers-in-arms.
The silence of knowing you were ready, too.
This Memorial Day, I do not just remember.
I carry.
I carry the names of men and women who laid everything down.
I carry the weight of what I was trained to give.
I carry the reality that I came home changed, though not by war, but by injury, pain, and the path I did not choose.
I did not fight on the battlefield. But I stood in uniform, willing to go. Willing to lay down my life.
Willing to become a memory for the sake of another’s freedom.
That readiness leaves a mark no ceremony can heal.
A military injury altered my course.
I did not fall in the war, but I fell.
And I rose. Not unchanged, but awakened.
I came close to joining their ranks, not through combat, but through cost.
And I honor them because I know the price they paid was not theoretical.
It was final.
It was sacred.
It was for me.
And it was for you.
We often reduce Memorial Day to an event, a long weekend, a cookout, a flag at half-staff.
But for those who served, it is not a holiday.
It is a holy day.
A day when names echo louder than fireworks.
A day when empty chairs speak louder than parades.
A day when we remember not only who we lost, but why they were willing to be lost.
If freedom had a face, it would be lined with grief and lit by honor.
If it had a voice, it would whisper from the graves:
“Do not forget us. Live worthy of us.”
To the fallen: I did not walk where you walked.
But I wear the uniform with reverence for your sacrifice.
I live with a limp from a different kind of wound.
And I rise each day with a deeper vow, to live for those who no longer can.
To those of us still standing:
May we remember that freedom is not inherited, it is entrusted.
Given by the breath of the brave.
Held in the hearts of the grateful.
Lived out by those who choose honor over ease, and remembrance over routine.
This Memorial Day, I do not just salute.
I promise.
To carry them forward.
To live a life that speaks their names.
To never forget the breath they gave so I could breathe.
—
Dr. Steve Hudgins, LPCS, NCC
U.S. Army Veteran | Survivor | Healer of Invisible Wounds
“I did not die in war, but I carry those who did.”
#MemorialDay #HonorTheFallen #FreedomIsNotFree #VeteranVoice #LiveWorthy #CoachedSoul