To the Editor:

On this Memorial Day, we remember the veteran, not the preacher, who has given us freedom of religion. It is the veteran, not the reporter, who has given us freedom of the press. It is the veteran, not the poet, who has given us freedom of speech. It is the veteran, not the campus organizer, who has given us freedom to assemble. It is the veteran, not the lawyer, who has given us the right to a fair trial. It is the veteran who salutes the flag, who serves under the flag, whose coffin is draped by the flag.

Let us never forget on this Memorial Day, the price of freedom is not free. Louis Bunker St. Ignace

Editor's Note: Mr. Bunker cites a popular veterans salute adopted from a poem for soldiers, commonly credited to Father Denis Edward O'Brien, even in the U.S. Air Force Academy cadet handbook, "Contrails." Father O'Brien, who died in 2002, had served as a sergeant in the U.S. Marine Corps during World War II. Its true author has not been verified.