Spring is upon us, and as the weather warms and we enter a season of renewal, we take a moment today, on Memorial Day, to remember those who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our country.

We take pause so that their memory lives on in each American, and join the families, friends, and loved ones across our great nation who mourn the loss of those who gave their lives in service to our country. It is because of their sacrifice that we are able to enjoy living in a nation where one can live freely and independent of tyranny and oppression.

John 15:13 tells us: “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” This year we honor the service members who lived up to that greatest form of love. The love that sparked this nation at Lexington and Concord. The love that stormed the beaches of Normandy and Iwo Jima. The love that embodies the American spirit of selfless devotion to your countrymen.

Today, we are thankful for that unselfish love that gave us the ideas of life, liberty, and equality. I am thankful and forever in debt to these heroes. This Memorial Day, join me in remembering the greatest form of love, and the men and women who embodied that love so daringly.

— Tim Schaffer is a Republican and represents the 20th Ohio Senate Distgrict, which which encompasses all or parts of Athens, Fairfield, Guernsey, Hocking, Morgan, Muskingum, and Pickaway counties.