05/25/2026
🇺🇸
Memorial Day is not a mattress sale. It is not a long weekend. It is not a cookout.
It is Carrie Pennington holding a folded flag at her son's funeral. It is Tim Pennington putting his hands on his son's casket at Fort Knox because that was the closest he could get to touching his boy. It is Mackenzie Pennington writing her little brother's obituary.
It is Staff Sgt. Ben Pennington- 26 years old- Eagle Scout, bourbon-enthusiast, the kid who always said he wanted to serve our country- coming home in a flag-draped casket instead of on a commercial flight like he planned.
This Memorial Day, I am asking you to remember Ben. He was from right here in Kentucky. And he gave everything.