Saturday, November 11, 2006
IN REMEMBRANCE.....
I am nearing the age of seventy-five and in those short years six wars have been waged along with several troop deployments to various places in the world. I have always heard that History repeats itself and I believe it.
The adulation after WW11 celebrated the sacrifices of that generation to make the world free……we couldn’t foresee another war coming. Yet in just a few short years we sent troops to Korea as the Cold War began freezing people inside the Iron Curtain. Korea was a bitter enemy with atrocities we could barely imagine.
Viet Nam was a battle zone long fought by the French and again, our country sent young men and battle-savvy troops to help free the country from the grip of Communism. The Cold War continued to scare the world as tensions mounted everywhere……..and then came Desert Storm.
By now America was on the battlefield with the troops, watching as they fought a different enemy. Television brought the war very personally into our living rooms and we were glued to the scenes…….some unbearable to watch as captured troops were forced to stand in front of the cameras, wondering if they would ever make it home again.
Before we could take a deep breath, the sabers rattled in the desert again and we went back to give the Iraqi’s freedom and stop a dictator from his arrogance concerning the United Nation’s stand on building atomic bombs. A war that once seemed over and with good results deteriorated into a Civil War among the religious groups of the land.
In foreign countries there is no “quick fix”…….the differences one group has against the other have been going on longer than our country is old. Our blood has spilled on continents, islands, oceans and in the air over countries we couldn’t even pronounce the names of…….let alone find on a map.
With all of these variables and uncertainties, young men and now, women, have answered the call to their country without hesitation………not only to defend our own nation but to bring peace to other suffering people. Many of the troops killed in Iraq have been volunteers, on their second or third deployment……highly trained professional men and women who wanted to make a difference.
If they could give all…..and only for a dream…..how can we neglect or dishonor their sacrifices? This day, this hour, our husbands, sons, brothers, fathers, uncles…….are paying the extreme price of valor. May God bless their efforts in life and may they be swiftly taken to meet Him in death. For the families, who sacrifice along with and without them, I offer a humble thanks.
People like me can never know the depth of suffering they have endured, just to make me free. I’ll never know the kind of discipline or courage that goes with being a soldier. What I can do is to be grateful, to offer thanks, and to remember my freedom is not free. Someone paid my price for it…….God bless everyone of them.
Until the next time,
Essentially Esther
The adulation after WW11 celebrated the sacrifices of that generation to make the world free……we couldn’t foresee another war coming. Yet in just a few short years we sent troops to Korea as the Cold War began freezing people inside the Iron Curtain. Korea was a bitter enemy with atrocities we could barely imagine.
Viet Nam was a battle zone long fought by the French and again, our country sent young men and battle-savvy troops to help free the country from the grip of Communism. The Cold War continued to scare the world as tensions mounted everywhere……..and then came Desert Storm.
By now America was on the battlefield with the troops, watching as they fought a different enemy. Television brought the war very personally into our living rooms and we were glued to the scenes…….some unbearable to watch as captured troops were forced to stand in front of the cameras, wondering if they would ever make it home again.
Before we could take a deep breath, the sabers rattled in the desert again and we went back to give the Iraqi’s freedom and stop a dictator from his arrogance concerning the United Nation’s stand on building atomic bombs. A war that once seemed over and with good results deteriorated into a Civil War among the religious groups of the land.
In foreign countries there is no “quick fix”…….the differences one group has against the other have been going on longer than our country is old. Our blood has spilled on continents, islands, oceans and in the air over countries we couldn’t even pronounce the names of…….let alone find on a map.
With all of these variables and uncertainties, young men and now, women, have answered the call to their country without hesitation………not only to defend our own nation but to bring peace to other suffering people. Many of the troops killed in Iraq have been volunteers, on their second or third deployment……highly trained professional men and women who wanted to make a difference.
If they could give all…..and only for a dream…..how can we neglect or dishonor their sacrifices? This day, this hour, our husbands, sons, brothers, fathers, uncles…….are paying the extreme price of valor. May God bless their efforts in life and may they be swiftly taken to meet Him in death. For the families, who sacrifice along with and without them, I offer a humble thanks.
People like me can never know the depth of suffering they have endured, just to make me free. I’ll never know the kind of discipline or courage that goes with being a soldier. What I can do is to be grateful, to offer thanks, and to remember my freedom is not free. Someone paid my price for it…….God bless everyone of them.
Until the next time,
Essentially Esther
