Marsha and I grew up in families that often times had to rob Peter to pay Paul as the saying goes. We didn't starve and always had a roof over our heads but it was well known in our families that money was tough and especially in the winter. Our generation was given a leg up by our parents generation. My brother Terry and I got to go to college and Marsha's mother who always wanted to go to school made sure her children got educated if they could or would. I appreciate what others have done for me. I know I'm not living the life I live because by some special quality of mine as if I deserve it while others don't. I was lucky to be born into opportunities that not everyone had or even have today. I didn't somehow earn this possibility in fact I even made valiant attempts to throw it away at times. I can see in my own life the sacrifice that gave me personally the opportunities that I've had and brought to me the blessed life I now live. Our families sacrifices were real and important for us as individuals. Life would not be the same in my world if they had not occurred.
With that in mind, today is Veteran's Day. We can only guess or imagine what the world would be like today without our veterans. We speak of the freedom we enjoy in this country and I know many of the veterans died or suffered so I can enjoy them, but what would the world be like without American veterans. Democratic life really sprung forth as a possibility as a result of our revolutionary war veterans. Democracy swept other parts of the world as well as our own. The Holocaust would not have ended without the bravery of American soldiers in World War II. Where would Hitler have been stopped and what would that mean for the world. Even peace time veterans and those of other conflicts, those approved and those disapproved, showed that this country will stand and fight for democracy. As a young man I tried to enlist while I was on probation with legal issues and they wouldn't take me, so I'm not one of those veterans, but today I honor those of you who are. You too have given me a leg up toward a dream I don't deserve and I life I never earned.
We still may have too many who can't get to where I am, and we need to recognize that none of us deserves what we have. Working so all can share in the blessings of this country is what all those veterans served and died for. May the dream for all Americans continue today and always. Our veteran's sacrifices deserves that much from us all.
No comments:
Post a Comment