I went to our local Memorial Day parade today. Nothing big or fancy considering that I live in a small town. However, it did remind me of when my Grandpa was alive. He was a WWII vet. I think he would rip somebody's arm off if he saw them burning a flag.
I listened to the speech that was given by a vet that had to be at least 80 years old. He spoke of truths that we no longer think of. He spoke of the hundreds of thousands people who died in "his" war (versus the less than a thousand that dies in the Gulf war, or so far in the war on terrorism). He spoke of how people are willing to die to make sure that America stays free and safe. He said that he hopes that for the rest of his life he always knows that there are American's who are willing to die for their country.
Another thing that he said was something that I did not think about. His war happened long before I was alive. He spoke about the "unknown" in war. That much like a religion, that soldiers go into war with blind faith in their government. Faith that the government is doing the right thing, even if they do not know exactly what that is. He said that the war on terrorism is no different than WWII in the fact that we had our own soil invaded. And, in turn, we reacted to that invasion to protect not only the US, but all free nations.
If you believe in the wars or not, it doesn't matter today. Today is a day to sit back and thank each and every person that has ever been brave enough to defend your country. To thank and appreciate each family that lost a loved one to the war. To remember why these people have fought- to allow us to be free. To allow us to even have the voice and ability to protest the war. To allow us to feel safe on our own soil. To allow us to Americans.
Thank you.