Memorial Day Weekend 2026
PHOTO BY: Neal Drury
May 23, 2026 // Theon, WASH
Remarks from Rep. Mary Dye
Friends, Patriots All,
As I stand before you, proud and humbled by your courage, the sacrifices seen and unseen, I think of the great honor I have to serve with Heroes in our Caucus of Republicans: Rep Marshall, Captain and Medic, Rep Steube, Marine Colonel, and Rep “Batman” himself, Michael Keaton, Squadron Commander flying the F-16 Falcon. (I am his honorary wingman in Appropriations).
Every morning, before deliberations, in advance of debate, Our Men stand at the sound of the Gavel, and I watch in awe, as Rep. Steube struggles to right himself on his artificial leg. Often, I hear them address each other by their hard-earned rank, Good Morning Colonel, Good Morning Colonel. Rep. Marshall was raised right here, in these mountains.
They stand straight, silent and proud, trained to a level of commitment, and honor to flag and country, that only a man who signed the covenant to us, with God, that they would die to save this sacred ideal our nation, our society, our foundational philosophy, borne of Ancient and Inspired texts.
As the flag is carried by children, police officers, military branches, every morning different, every morning made solemn, I watch Batman, Dr. Marshall, and especially Steube step in the isle next to their desk, not behind the desks but in the aisle to salute their flag, the one they spent a good number of years, in battle, to defend her honor.
PHOTO BY: Neal Drury
As parents, spouses and friends of these heroes, we also carry in our souls a special commitment, one borne of courage. The memory is seared on my heart, as the wonderful recruiter handed the paper for my Husband and I to sign for my daughter to enlist in the reserves. While she never saw battle, it was none-the-less the moment when I knew she could. And the thousands of parents that watched their kids graduate from boot camp, so many families that we couldn’t get in to see the ceremony, these also are those families who are willing to give our children, our future grandchildren, our legacy to serve the covenant that holds this great nation together.
These great warriors, in a long and storied history of sacrifice, from the march of bloody footprints in the snow of Valley Forge, led by George Washington, to the courageous warriors of today who undertook a silent thirty-six-hour mission deep into enemy territory, that sunk megaton bombs to destroy the existential nuclear threat to humanity from crazed and evil tyrants, America’s defenders have carried forward an unbroken legacy of sacrifice in the cause of human liberty. In confronting a mounting nuclear threat to civilization itself, they struck against evil tyrants who had spread terror with impunity for nearly half a century, attacking the very religious and moral foundations upon which free governments rest. In the end, beneath deep rubble and shattered stone, their vision of global tyrannical supremacy was utterly destroyed.
At last, the decades long sacrifices from our heartland, vindicated. Our great warriors, our families, who signed the covenant to serve the God who gave us a government of Us, the documents drafted that we serve God, and He alone and our relationship to Him holds the bonds of our civil society tightly together.
While the remnant of a generation of shameful cowards write as though we are still stuck in the cultural revolution, a time where those with the pen nearly destroyed us from within, the men the women of the Heartland still stand tall, still sign the paper, still send their children to serve the greater cause.
I sincerely believe that the time for those voices meant to tear the fabric of our social order apart, those that adopt the elitist arrogance of a reporter class, that relish their misdirected power to harm and break the institutions that bind us in comradery as a nation of freedom under laws designed to constrain our governing power and protect our humanity for each other, that seek to gin up riots and violence for profit, in our own streets, so they can go wall to wall with video and sound--- their ilk is over.
PHOTO BY: Neal Drury
As our kids, the good men and women from small towns, ranches and farms step forward to serve with courage of conviction--- that this Republic will stand proud and strong as we are governed in a land established for a Freedom to act out our Faith in a Loving God.
In stories foretold, Abraham took his son up the mountain and sent him to fetch wood, and his hand was stayed by the Angel of the Lord, and multitudes of generations came forth, and the Son of God was then hung on a tree, and gave the ultimate sacrifice.
Generations have passed and governments and kingdoms, empires have risen and fallen, capturing humankind in tyrannies of human control. Ours is a unique and seminal society built on thousands of years of human history. Ours is a culture that is built to free each one of us. Our families are free because our ancestors broke free and enshrined the liberty to know God and make our way, to serve as living sacrifices to the one who loves us, and the one who gives our nation the unique ability to love our neighbors enough to stand against those who would destroy this covenant with each other.
As we stand here today, we honor those who gave their lives so we can live ours fully free.
We owe it to them. How-we-live, Matters. Turn our faces to heaven and live lives that honor Him our King of Kings. Hold his commandments dear, to love the God who first loved us enough, and through that righteous sacrifice love our neighbors as image bearers of God. This is the eternal glue that holds our culture, our society, and our nation together. This is the love I am honored to witness as I watch Rep Steube struggle to stand and speak truth to the body, but over and over fail to get called upon by the speaker as others who would never give a leg for our country jump ahead.
Today, we give voice to our heroes and honor them, because they most certainly deserve our greatest thanks and praise.
Thank you and God bless America; may she shine here on this land for a thousand years and more.
PHOTO BY: Neal Drury