I wrote this short blog entry five years ago for Veteran's Day. I wanted to repost it this year. It is still true, we owe our freedoms to the many men and women who dedicated themselves, for a season or a lifetime, to preserving the freedoms we now enjoy in this country. Many made the ultimate sacrifice to protect those freedoms. Remember them all today.
About a month ago my wife and I visited her Aunt in San Antonio. She had recently moved to a new home and her brother was visiting from Brazil for the first time in about five years. It was a great family reunion. At one point the talk turned to her husband who had passed away a few years back. He had been an Air Force pilot in WWII and had flown 42 missions, many over Germany during a number of fierce air battles. She had a picture that was taken from one of the planes in his squadron showing bombs exploding, sending deadly chunks of metal shooting in all directions, aimed at taking out the low flying planes. He was in one of those planes.
We Must Fight to Preserve It
My uncle was a rear gunner in the same war, fighting over the Pacific during the battle of Midway. He was only 19 at the time. Both of our uncles survived, living into their 80's. We were lucky they made it home to tell their stories.
Since that war we have had Korea, Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan to name a few. Before WWII there were numerous wars as well, WWI, the Civil War and of course the Revolutionary War, our original call for freedom. All of these battles, right or wrong, were fought in the name of freedom. A freedom America continues to fight for, all over the world, for all of those oppressed by tyranny.
Today is Veteran's Day. A day we remember those who fought to establish and protect the freedoms we can so easily take for granted. It takes a special kind of individual to risk their life in the defense of another. If you see a soldier, thank them for their service. If you know a family who has a loved one deployed overseas, spend some time with them. If there is a family in your circle who has lost a loved one in the line of duty, comfort them. Most of all say a prayer and thank God for the blessing of these brave men and women. Without their courage and dedication, both past and present soldiers, we might not have the rights and freedoms we now enjoy. We owe a debt of gratitude to them all.
Isaiah 53:12a - "I will give him the honors of a victorious soldier, because he exposed himself to death. (NLT)"
I love America because of the brave
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