On July 4 this year, our nation celebrates the 250th anniversary of its declaration of independence from colonial rule. Before that historical day, we will celebrate Memorial Day on May 25. That last Monday in May is when we try to remember those who died in wartime or in miliary service.

They may seem like separate occasions, but at the heart of our July 4 celebrations are the people we honor on Memorial Day. And in some way, we should remember that fact at the national semiquincentennial.

Since 1776, an estimated 1.3 million U.S. service members have died in military service. More than 650,000 were killed in battle. Hundreds of thousands more have died from non-combat causes, including disease and accidents.

In June, I will join about 100 Kansas veterans in the Kansas Honor Flight from Wichita to Washington, D.C. It’s a 3-day trip to visit Arlington Cemetery and many memorials, including the Vietnam Veterans Memorial (“The Wall”).

The only time I was ever in D.C. was in 1980 when the memorial was still being designed. A visit to The Wall has long been on my bucket list.

Sergeant Ken Morris from Florida is among the more than 58,000 names on The Wall. He was my squad leader and was killed in an ambush in 1967 at age 22. His name is on Panel 18E. There are a handful of other names for me to remember and honor as well at The Wall.

At this point, I really don’t know how visiting the Vietnam Veterans Memorial will play out personally or even emotionally 58 years after my two combat tours (1966-1968) ended in the war, mainly at Dong Ha. Time will tell.

Time, however, is at hand to observe Memorial Day. It’s a holiday born out of the Civil War and a desire to honor our dead on what was called Decoration Day. After World I, the holiday changed from honoring just those who died fighting in the Civil War to honoring Americans who died in military service in any war.

With Congressional passage of the National Holiday Act of 1971, the name was changed to Memorial Day and celebrated on the last Monday in May. This also helped to ensure a three-day weekend for federal holidays.

For some, the focus has been on the long weekend and the start of the summer season rather than a time to remember those who served their nation, who went away, never to return, or returned to their hometowns and grieving families in coffins under our flag.

Memorials located in two county properties honor 81 service men killed or missing in action from World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War.

The Navy Park at the New Century AirCenter near Gardner commemorates 24 Navy and Marine aviators who were either killed in action or listed as missing in action from WWII and the Korean War.

The small memorial park was originally part of the bygone Olathe Naval Air Station that trained naval pilots for both wars.

The Vietnam Memorial Plaza at Antioch Park in Merriam was the first public memorial in the Kansas City metro region in honor of KIAs and MIAs from the Vietnam War. A bronze plaque lists and honors 57 Johnson County soldiers lost in that war.

City parks in Olathe, Shawnee, Gardner and Spring Hill also feature veterans memorials. The Korean War Veterans Memorial is in Overland Park. It features eight panels that carry the names of 415 Kansans killed in that war. Ten of them were from Johnson County.

Honoring our fallen in declared wars, global conflicts and military operations – past, present and future – always is important. If a local veteran organization has a Memorial Day service at a local cemetery or memorial site, consider attending it.

Or, you could pause to observe a minute of silence in the annual National Moment of Remembrance at 3 p.m. on May 25. The National Moment of Remembrance Act was signed in 2000 to “demonstrate gratitude to those who died for our freedom.” Carmella LaSpada, who advocated for the act, noted, “It’s a way we can all help put the memorial back in Memorial Day.”

No matter how difficult it might seem, we must not forget. For their military service and ultimate sacrifice, please join me in honoring them as we prepare to celebrate 250 years of independence.

An American idiom reminds us: Freedom is not free.