HOUSTON — Memorial Day is a day to honor those who paid the ultimate sacrifice so we can enjoy the freedoms for which the men and women of the United States military lived and died.
Memorial Day means more than shopping deals, barbecues and swimming. A ceremony was held in the Heights to make sure the heroes are remembered.
"We fought for our country -- we have to the ultimate -- some of us gave up our lives," Vietnam War veteran Sgt. Harold Williams said. "We need to represent what America means to Americans."
Living veterans remind people to not take for granted the sacrifices of the military's past, present and future.
"Today means that we celebrate the day that the greatness paid the price for me to have this freedom today," Navy veteran Nissi Hamilton said.
On Monday, Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, among others, lifted up veterans while honoring those who died.
"Being given the privilege of going to Iraq, Afghanistan, Bosnia -- the war zones -- as a member of the United States Congress ... to see soldiers, unselfishly, from all the military branches wearing a uniform and knowing that they know, that they may not come back home," she said.
Victor Glover is a Navy captain and also an astronaut. He said it's important to get out and act in memory of the countless fallen heroes.
"We are privileged today to have so many privileges because of those who made the sacrifices and just like the Bible said faith without works is dead -- I believe gratitude and honor without works is dead," Glover said.
Memorial Day was established by union veterans. They first called it "Decoration Day," and it was a time for the nation to decorate the graves of those killed at war.