Memorial Day: Honoring the Heroes Who Gave All for Freedom

For most Americans, Memorial Day marks the unofficial beginning of summer. Families travel. Children play. We go shopping and swimming. It’s the kind of scene the Zac Brown Band captured so well in the surprisingly touching lyrics of their song “Chicken Fried.”

Most of the song is devoted to celebrating the simple pleasures of fried chicken and “a cold beer on a Friday night.” But the tone shifts in the song’s final verse: “I thank God for my life,” Brown sings — and for “the ones that give their lives, / so we don’t have to sacrifice / all the things we love.”

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Jon Riches

Jon Riches is the vice president for litigation at the Goldwater Institute.

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Memorial Day

For most Americans, Memorial Day marks the unofficial beginning of summer. Families travel. Children play. We go shopping and swimming. It’s the kind of scene the Zac Brown Band captured so well in the surprisingly touching lyrics of their song “Chicken Fried.”

Most of the song is devoted to celebrating the simple pleasures of fried chicken and “a cold beer on a Friday night.” But the tone shifts in the song’s final verse: “I thank God for my life,” Brown sings — and for “the ones that give their lives, / so we don’t have to sacrifice / all the things we love.”