We could wander, perhaps whistling, past graveyards all over the globe this Memorial Day— in Vietnam; in Europe: France, Italy, England, Belgium; in the Pacific: Hawaii, Guam, the Philippines; in the Middle East: Iraq, Afghanistan; and in the U.S.: Concord, Valley Forge, Arlington, and so many more. We might pause to ponder the enormity of the sacrifice attached to each one of those ever-so-neatly arranged little white crosses. Row upon row ––– an endless stream of very still, very young Americans. Children who never had the chance to be remembered for their special talents or their craft, or even for their loves and foibles. Special talents and abilities, loves and lovers, follies and foibles – –all those “might have beens” – – were entombed with their young bodies. They sacrificed their all to protect the freedom they’d been raised to hold dear. The very freedom about which we, the living, often so glibly speak, but so seldom actually comprehend.
As we tiptoe by, a chorus of bewildered voices may well up from that hallowed earth to plaintively ask, “Is this what it was all for?” “Is this that for which I laid down the only life I’ve ever had or ever will have? Tell me – - how goes it with my ‘Land of the Free?’ Does the flag I vowed to protect still fly head and shoulders above all others? Does my country remain the Hope of the world? Tell me, please! Though I’ve lost touch, I feel an unease in the land.”
While kindness pleads for a place in my response, a sense of duty and an allegiance to forthrightness ultimately commands the day.
“Although I’ve no desire to alarm you . . . I must report that that very selfsame ‘unease’ of which you speak, is running rampant throughout the land. There’ve been some changes.
The Grand Lady in the harbor –– you know, the one that symbolized that which was best about America? Her once proud head is now bowed in sorrow. She thinks her vision impaired, for she sees less of the familiar landscape that once was her purview. Rubble stands where once there was life. Yet the leader of the land frolics about, vapidly apologizing to the world for the collective ‘sin’ of our refusal as a nation to allow such transgressions to go unpunished!
Would he transform her into the Harlot of the Harbor? ‘Arrogant’, he calls us! Was it ‘arrogance’, I ask, that provided you your wee slice of eternal foreign real estate? I think not. ‘Twas the currency of your blood that financed the current crop of Freedom – – not just in America, but throughout the world. That is one American currency which must never be devalued”
“Surely you jest!”, say they who’ve given their best. “Change for the sake of change has no value. Has he forgotten our address? Have you all forgotten? The only reason we provide sustenance to French flowers, rather than to the daisies of our mothers’ liking, is our love of that which is quintessentially American: freedom. Given a choice, we’d rest a bit closer to home. But we make no apologies for our addiction to air that is free, to governess that empowers rather than enslaves. We coddle not our enemies. We curry not the favor of the world at the expense of our principles. ‘Don’t tread on me!’ is a way of life, not just an historic slogan!”
Cowed by their vigor, somewhat abashed, I meekly say, “Sorry – - – I guess I let it happen.”
“We ask but one favor….”, say they. “Spread the word: Freedom is never free.”
In solemn and loving memory of those who have provided me my freedom, I spread their word.
7,992 Young Patriots Far From Home
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{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
You have eloquently captured the essence of the unrest of all the people who love America and are afraid of the way our country is going. Thanks.
What are our convictions?
What are those convictions based on?
Are we willing to step up and defend those convictions?
Will we withdraw when it gets to be “inconvenient”?
Or will we confront “evil” wherever we find it?
Will we speak out at all times and in all places?
Do we have the conviction to make the ultimate sacrifice?
Those Men and Women we honor this weekend “Stepped Up” and made that ultimate sacrifice.
May we demonstrate by our actions that we are worthy of their sacrifice.
Amen, brother!!
My father was a career military soldier through and through. He taught me many wonderful things. However, if there was one lesson that stood out among the many it would probably be RESPECT for our mother land, for the liberty we enjoy, and especially for the men and women who sacrificed their lives on our nation’s behalf. My father would be mortified to see where we have come … with our constitution hanging by a thread. In honor of him and the millions who have sacrificed their all, including their very lives, I give thanks for them, not only during this Memorial Day weekend, but throughout my life. May God bless us all during these turbulent times. May we have the courage to stand up at all times and in all places for our liberties and that which we know to be true and correct.
America’s freedom is a sacred trust. Our family has a traditional love affair with America and has always answered when call to arms has sounded. My Dad and his three brothers as well as two more uncles and an aunt all served in WWII. My namesake uncle was wounded on Iwo Jima and medically discharged before he was old enough to join. He was only 16. It profoundly affected the remainder of his life. Another Uncle served in Korea, my brother served in the hot seat of the cold war and I served in SE Asia including Vietnam. I remember the great feeling as I refused to accept combat pay for my visits to Vietnam. I know what those who were actually engaged in combat endured and would never compare my small sacrifice to theirs. I am proud of my family and my country.
Our freedom is a stewardship. It was purchased with the blood of our ancestors and passed on to us as a sacred trust. We absolutely must not break the chain. Shame on the generation who looses the precious freedom due to apathy failing to preserve it for their progeny. America was intended to live forever free!
Remember the giant in Gulliver Travels when Gulliver visits Lilliput. A giant from the little peoples perspective. Normal size from Gullivers perspective.
What could Gulliver do when he woke up after being ship wrecked? Nothing! He had been tied down by a bunch of threads. While he was unconscious the people of Lilliput bound him down. If he would have only woke up earlier, before the binding was complete, He could have easily dispatched the threads with a flick of the finger. But alas he did not wake up until after the binding was complete.
Are we the people of America asleep? Will we wake up in time? Will we be able to throw off our bindings?
Are our politicians doing things while we sleep?
Are they attempting to bind us down??
Will we awake before it is too late?
I see President Obama’s desire to overhaul the nations health care system as the bindings used in Lilliput to restrain Gulliver.
The economy is the excuse he is using to push for changes?
From http://www.drudgereport.com the headline ‘WE’RE OUT OF MONEY’.
“In a sobering holiday interview with C-SPAN, President Obama boldly told Americans: “We are out of money.”
C-SPAN host Steve Scully broke from a meek Washington press corps with probing questions for the new president.
SCULLY: You know the numbers, $1.7 trillion debt, a national deficit of $11 trillion. At what point do we run out of money?
OBAMA: Well, we are out of money now. We are operating in deep deficits, not caused by any decisions we’ve made on health care so far. This is a consequence of the crisis that we’ve seen and in fact our failure to make some good decisions on health care over the last several decades.
So we’ve got a short-term problem, which is we had to spend a lot of money to salvage our financial system, we had to deal with the auto companies, a huge recession which drains tax revenue at the same time it’s putting more pressure on governments to provide unemployment insurance or make sure that food stamps are available for people who have been laid off.
So we have a short-term problem and we also have a long-term problem. The short-term problem is dwarfed by the long-term problem. And the long-term problem is Medicaid and Medicare. If we don’t reduce long-term health care inflation substantially, we can’t get control of the deficit.
So, one option is just to do nothing. We say, well, it’s too expensive for us to make some short-term investments in health care. We can’t afford it. We’ve got this big deficit. Let’s just keep the health care system that we’ve got now.
Along that trajectory, we will see health care cost as an overall share of our federal spending grow and grow and grow and grow until essentially it consumes everything…”
So, Let me restate the ideas from this interview.
1. We are out of money
(Really? Who would have guessed)
2. Being out of money was not caused by any decisions we have made on health care, however bad decisions made over the past several decades have brought us to this point.
(Not my fault, But I am blaming others)
3. Problems: Financial, Auto, Recession
– Forcing government to provide more welfare services
(Who says that the government. Has to provide more?!)
4. Short term problem:
(Not identified)
5. Long term problem: Medicaid and Medicare
(Welfare. Umm, created by the government)
– It is out of control.
(Really?
You may have noticed that Nothing was said about servicing the Massive debt. I will call it the $63 Trillion dollar gorilla.
Wake up America!
Please wake up!.
We are going to be bound down like Gulliver. But for us … They will not release the cords that hold us bound. They will only make the cords tighter, stronger and more firm.
BTW, You can download a e-copy of Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift
http
http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/829
I lost an uncle on Guadalcanal. I lost my father in 1953 as a result of a wound he received on Saipan in June of 1944. I enlisted in the Navy on my 17th birthday in 1963. From May of 1966 to August of 1969 I served with Task Force 116, 573rd River Division. I was twice wounded… the second, in August of 1969, left me totally disabled.
having said that, I’d like to comment on Barack Obama’s refusal to attend the Memorial Day services at the Arlington National Cemetery. It’s just as well… the brave, patriotic souls at rest in Arlington wouldn’t want his low-life, anti-American, Marxist ass there anyway. For Barack Obama to set foot on that hallowed ground would be an insult to ALL servicemen and women both living and dead.
David, good to hear from you again. Hope all is well with you.