“They, and we, are the legacies of an unbroken chain of proud men and women who served their country with honor, who waged war so that we might know peace, who braved hard­ship so that we might know op­portunity, who paid the ultimate price so that we might know freedom,” said President Barack Obama during a Memorial Day speech at Arlington National Cemetery in 2009.

Memorial Day holds a sacred spot on the calendar. Every year on the last Monday of May, Americans pause to remember the men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice for our na­tion.

Ever since the start of the Revolutionary War, patriots have served to defend America’s and other nation’s freedom. Memo­rial Day is a day to commemorate their sacrifices.

The holiday, which is observed every year on the last Monday of May, originated as Decoration Day after the American Civil War in 1868. It was established as a time for the nation to decorate the graves of the war dead with flowers.

“Today, we are blessed to have young men, women, and families here who under­stand the price of freedom, and are willing to place America before themselves,” said Col. Peter D. Buck, the commanding offi­cer of Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort.