As Americans look forward to backyard barbeques and parades this Memorial Day weekend, it’s important to honor the men and women of the U.S. Armed Forces who died in service of this country.

Here are 15 patriotic quotes from past American presidents, generals, writers and others that will help remember the sacrifice of our military’s men and women on Memorial Day.

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"But freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it on to our children in the bloodstream. The only way they can inherit the freedom we have known is if we fight for it, protect it, defend it and then hand it to them with the well-thought lessons of how they in their lifetime must do the same. And if you and I don't do this, then you and I may well spend our sunset years telling our children and our children's children what it once was like in America when men were free." – Ronald Reagan

"Those who have long enjoyed such privileges as we enjoy forget in time that men have died to win them." – Franklin D. Roosevelt

"Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it." – Mark Twain

"It's better to fight for something in life than to die for nothing." – Gen. George S. Patton

"It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather we should thank God such men lived." – Gen. George S. Patton

"It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather we should thank God such men lived." – Gen. George S. Patton

"My fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country." – John F. Kennedy

"Duty, honor, country. Those three hallowed words reverently dictate what you ought to be, what you can be, what you will be." – Gen. Douglas MacArthur

"A hero is someone who has given his or her life to something bigger than oneself." – Joseph Campbell

"A hero is someone who has given his or her life to something bigger than oneself." – Joseph Campbell

"Never throughout history has a man who lived a life of ease left a name worth remembering." – Theodore Roosevelt

"Without memory, there is no culture. Without memory, there would be no civilization, no society, no future." – Elie Wiesel

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"There is nothing wrong with America that cannot be cured with what is right in America." – Bill Clinton

"For love of country they accepted death, and thus resolved all doubts, and made immortal their patriotism and their virtue." – James A. Garfield

"Our nation owes a debt to its fallen heroes that we can never fully repay." – Barack Obama

"Courage is almost a contradiction in terms. It means a strong desire to live taking the form of a readiness to die." – G.K. Chesterton

"And I’m proud to be an American, where at least I know I’m free. And I won’t forget the men who died, who gave that right to me." – Lee Greenwood, "God Bless the U.S.A"