Our nation’s Armed Forces know the weight of sacrifice. Each service member sacrificed something to protect our freedoms and fight for America’s values.

Memorial Day is often associated with weekend trips, picnics, pools, and parades. But this day was created to be a solemn reflection to remember our heroes who didn’t make it home.

May is also Military Appreciation Month, a time to recognize, honor, and thank all who serve. This Memorial Day, as we collectively mourn the loss of those servicemembers who have died, set aside time to honor and thank those in your life who have served in our Armed Forces.

Our veterans and military families have made tremendous sacrifices to protect our freedoms. They deserve the highest care and support we can provide.

In March, the Department of Veteran’s Affairs (VA) VISN 23 Director and the Biden Administration of recommended in-patient service closures that would close the Wagner Community-Based Outpatient Clinic and reduce Emergency Room capacity to an urgent care in Sioux Falls. The recommendation also called for relocating the psycho-social rehab from Hot Springs to Rapid City and limiting the Hot Springs and Fort Meade campuses to out-patient care, relocating in-patient services to Rapid City.

There are a number of these recommended closures and service reductions I do not support. We need to do everything we can to support our veterans. Ensuring access to high quality care is an important piece of serving those who served our country.

Not every American hero makes it home. It’s my priority to support the ones who do.

###

If you ever visit South Dakota’s State Capitol, I hope you take the time to visit the veterans’ memorial down by Capitol Lake. While this memorial is dedicated to all veterans who have served, there is a portion specifically dedicated to the more than 300 South Dakotans killed in the Korean and Vietnam wars. To one side there is an inscription: May we ever protect the freedoms for which they fought.

As we approach Memorial Day, we are reminded of our bravest South Dakotans — 3,073 service members killed in action since World War I.

The original idea for this holiday was first created 154 years ago by a Union General, John Logan, who in 1868 designated May 30th as “Decoration Day.” It is said that Logan welcomed about 5,000 patriots to Arlington National Cemetery to decorate the graves of 20,000 Civil War soldiers.

100 years after Logan’s first Decoration Day, the U.S. Congress officially designated the last Monday of May as Memorial Day. This year marks the first time in two decades that the U.S. has not been at war during Memorial Day. But we are far from the pain of mourning and loss for those 36 South Dakotans killed in action since the 9/11 attacks.

President Abraham Lincoln once said, “Honor to the Soldier, and Sailor, everywhere, who bravely bears his country’s cause … who braves, for the common good, the storms of heaven and the storms of battle.” Sadly, there are many soldiers who succumb to the storm. And while they were not lost on a battlefield, we must remember the 22 veterans or active-duty soldiers each day who take their lives because they could not escape the storm when they came home. Their mental wounds are as real and as deadly as any physical wounds. And their tragic deaths deserve to be tallied in the costs of war.

Honor. Courage. Sacrifice. Bravery. These are all words that apply generously to the men and women we honor on Memorial Day. But this holiday should be more than a remembrance of those we have lost. It should be an annual call to action. As the memorial says: May we ever protect the freedoms for which they fought.

In his famous Gettysburg Address, Lincoln was dedicating a new National Cemetery at the site where a decisive victory had been won by the Union Army just four months earlier. The president spoke few words, yet each weighed the heavy cost born by Americans on both sides. More than 7,000 soldiers from the North and South died in the Pennsylvania fray. “In a larger sense, we cannot dedicate—we cannot consecrate—we cannot hallow—this ground,” Lincoln said in his address. “The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract.”

In this moment, Lincoln cemented in our heritage that we must remember and respect those who fought and died to protect our freedoms. Not just on Memorial Day. We should carry their sacrifice with us daily.

Lincoln ended his address by reminding us why such sacrifice matters: “It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion … that a government of the people, by the people, and for the people shall not perish from the earth.”

I hope you will take this Memorial Day to reflect on those we have lost. Use this time to also talk about their lives outside of service. Talk about the joy they brought and the laughter shared by telling stories of the life they lived, as well as the sacrifice they made. Speak loudly and proudly about our bravest South Dakotans.

###

Bruce Whalen is hitting selected mailboxes, and blasting an 8 second message on the billboard by Hardees in Brookings as he makes a last gasp to gain attention this weekend.

First, the Bruce postcard, where he points out his commitment to Glorify God in the US Senate. Right after he talks about delousing. Yeah, that’s part of his speech too.

And I was running to the edge of town last night, and almost drove off the road when I saw this pop up in the rotation on one of the two digital billboards in town, over by Hardees. Had to sit there a while when I pulled over to get a photo… and then it was back lost in rotation.

Seriously, I’ve got to invest in one of these billboards.  They seem to be a license to print money for the amount of time that people get.

That ad is better than the postcard which tries to do too much. And is also kind of weird.

Glad I took a picture. Because we’re not going to see Bruce much after a week from Tuesday.

Wow. Even with a completely cleared field and no primary, Democrat candidate for the US Senate Brian Bengs is doing badly. Really, really badly.

Brian Bengs Pre Primary by Pat Powers on Scribd

In the latest FEC report, Bengs reported $24,075.40 in donations. Against which, he spent $41,124. He does report $45,312 cash on hand, but that’s after a $20,000 loan to his campaign. I don’t think this is going in the right direction.

What’s sucking his cash down faster than it can come in? Bengs reports having several employees, three of which are in another state (Norfolk, VA, Virginia Beach, VA, and Grapevine TX), and one in Sioux Falls. Which is probably par for the course for Democrats in the state.

But, wow. Nevermind US Senate. He might just elect himself into the poorhouse at this rate.

This postcard is making the rounds on Facebook this morning from Liz May’s Conservative Principles PAC:

Where Liz May is attacking other Republicans as being RINOs. Well, that’s interesting. And it makes me wonder where her proof is.

I mean.. considering Liz May’s own track record of donating to Hillary Clinton more than once during the 2008 election cycle:

I mean, how many times do you have to support Hillary to be a true Republican in her book?

Well, no one ever accused the Convention of States group of being smart. In a postcard that hit Brookings yesterday, they demonstrated that they need some remedial geography lessons.

On the front side, they have a picture of the D7 Senate candidate nobody has ever heard of, Julie Erickson, superimposed in front of a photo of downtown Brookings.

But then you flip it over, and you get something that’s… not very Brookings.

They seem to have used Watertown, SD attraction (and Senator Lee Schoenbeck’s law office location), the Terry Redlin Center as the backdrop to show ‘how Brookings’ they are. Which, of course, they’ve failed miserably at, giving one the impression that they know their South Dakota politics as well as they know their South Dakota geography.

Moving on..

2022 Pre-Primary Bruce Whalen FEC by Pat Powers on Scribd

Not that this should come as a shock, but Bruce Whalen’s last FEC report before he loses the race is a bit anemic.

$22,457 raised. $17,128 spent. $31,627 cash on hand.

I suspect John Thune raised more in bank interest in that period than Bruce was able to muster. This is what the “Primary John Thune” group was able to scrape together for all their bluster? Even PJT group founder and this election’s conservative money baron Karla Lems only gave him $250, which shows you how much confidence they had (or didn’t have) in him.

South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem has a new campaign commercial out, declaring that the best for South Dakota is yet to come, and “This is our moment:”

Here’s Taffy Howard’s last hurrah, before Dusty Johnson handily defeats her in the primary.

TaffyHoward_PreprimaryFEC by Pat Powers on Scribd

Howard raised an ok $78,260.00. Not great, but not embarrassingly low, as some of her totals have been. But, it’s probably too little, too late.   Against this, she spent $100,671.91, leaving her $132,303.06 for possibly a mailing, and a little tv. Maybe.

But ultimately, it’s over, as she has been outmatched and outclassed for the entire campaign. She might be running a race that would work for constitutional office, but not Congress.