Greetings.  It's Memorial Day in the U.S. and an important time to pay honor to all the men and women throughout our history who have given their lives in order to protect the freedom we hold dear.  This is especially true today as our nation and our allies are fighting and working to secure the peace in two wars far from home.

Observance of Memorial Day began in the 1860's with the decoration of soldiers' graves and a range of local and regional ceremonies that paid tribute to our fallen heroes.  It eventually became a national holiday and day of remembrance.  A time set aside to reflect on the courage, commitment, skill, and honor of all the soldiers who died serving our nation.  But it is also an important time to remember all that made them remarkable as soldiers and human beings, and the genius that lived in each and every one of them.  It is this combination of their clear sense of duty and unique genius that we should vow never to forget.

In remembering them, let us pledge to give our best to work worth doing.  To bring courage, commitment, skill, and genius to our companies, organizations, and our efforts to improve our communities and the world we share.  To rise above office politics and petty differences to see the greater good.  To work together to find new and better ways to do the things that matter most.  And, in doing so, to honor the fallen each and every day–not simply on the last Monday in May.

We win in business and in life when we remember those who made our way of life possible.  And when we honor them by giving our very best to the work we choose to do.

Cheers and sincere hopes that all the members of armed forces return home safely as soon as possible.