A couple weeks ago while browsing in the public library, I wandered into the section about World War II.
I’ve read dozens and own several books about that war. The whole country rallied for the cause, offering up sons, brothers, husbands, uncles, cousins, and friends to stop Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy, and Imperial Japan. (Unfortunately, the former Soviet Union ended up enslaving eastern Europe after the war through Communism.)
There was something about WWII that holds my fascination. Watching men in landing craft headed to Omaha Beach, for example, with their heads bowed—some praying, some surely crying, or both, I knew they knew many would die. They were sitting ducks, as most of what was planned didn’t come off as planned. Just that snippet from a documentary, before the Germans started mowing them down, spoke volumes about what was a stake, whether or not those young Americans understood it at the time.
Throughout human history is a thread of sacrifice of self for family and country–weaving and winding its way through millennia, leaving indelible marks through the centuries, as empires rose and fell. Men fought and died motivated by everything from the purest evil to the highest good of which fallen man is capable.
The idea of giving your life for your country sometimes rings hollow to us in 2010, as we well-fed, free-for-now Americans enjoy what those men and women died for. We owe a debt of gratitude to every man and woman who died to preserve American liberty from the country’s inception to now, this very day.
Our freedom is enviable and worth dying for in any era. Always. We may take our freedom for granted, because most of us have never lived any other way. America is unique. Special. Take a moment to imagine what it would be like to face fines or prison or death for bad-mouthing the government or for sharing the Gospel. What if we were forced to worship in secret and hide our Bibles?
May we never forget that our freedom isn’t free. It costs something. It must be defended. It must be fought for. I don’t know about you, but I’m more than convinced it’s worth the fight. I support our military’s commitment to keeping America safe and free.
May God bless you all.
