Memorial Day - What it's Not

Gregg Hartness flew with my dad, Lt Col (ret) Jake Jacobson, when they were both young company grade officers. He was the first person my parents knew personally who was reported MIA in Vietnam. Gregg was promoted along with his year group until his mandatory retirement date, when he was retired with the rank of Colonel. I wore his POW/MIA bracelet for several years as a teenager. I took this photo of his headstone at Arlington National Cemetery on Memorial Day, 2015, while performing duty as a member of the Air Force JAG Corps Reserve. For more on Col Hartness, click www.arlingtoncemetery.net/gregg-hartness.htm

Memorial Day isn't for great sales. It isn't for cookouts. It isn't for thanking the men and women who have served this great nation in uniform (and out - CIA/DIA/OGA - you know who you are). Those things are all perfectly valid. But focusing on those things to the exclusion of its true meaning diminishes the reason for Memorial Day: to remember and honor those who gave "the last full measure of devotion", who died in the service of the United States of America. All of the attorneys at The Jacobson Law Firm are retired Air Force officers; however, when we put on our uniforms for Memorial Day observances, we neither desire nor expect your thanks. We wear the uniform to honor those who died in the service of their nation and ours. So enjoy the weekend and the time with family and friends, but please - never forget.

Colonel Hartness, I honor your service, your sacrifice, your last full measure.
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Dana D. Jacobson
Colonel, USAFR (ret).

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