For those who have served in the Armed Forces of the United States of America we are eternally grateful.
For the lost sons and daughters of war we can only swear on our sacred honor that we will never forget their courageous sacrifice, and pray that theirs may be the last. Though war is not intrinsically a noble and honorable endeavor, it is those who rise to the challenge and engage in it for the greater good that make it so. They are all of us, and we are they. When one of them dies or is missing, our resolve is strengthened by the loss equal to the degree that the lost soldier is honored and remembered by we who remain alive and free. Thus, it is our patriotic duty to honor those who have been lost in the service of our country, and never allow them to be forgotten.
For those who have served honorably and returned alive, we celebrate the opportunity to welcome them home and thank them for their service. For they are the ones who, at an age when life is boundless and experience limited, leave their homes and families and travel to foreign lands to take up arms on our behalf. Too soon they become aware that victory, honor, and their very survival require more of them than idealistic rhetoric had ever revealed. No amount of training has prepared them for what they must endure. And yet they stay...noble paladins...they obey, they endure, they fight on...they survive. When finally they return home, they are forever changed. Some outwardly, some in other ways. Now we must do no less than thank and honor them for doing what the rest of us could not, and welcome them home as the heroes they have become. To do less diminishes us all.
For those brave soldiers who fought but have not returned, and whose fate is known only to God, we must pledge together to them and to their families to remember them each day and to do everything in our power to speak on their behalf. To find them and return them to their own soil, living and dead alike, during a time of relative peace seems a small enough sacrifice in comparison. Can we in good conscience do less for the patriots who sacrificed their existence for us and our well-being? This is not simply the American thing to do, and the humane thing to do, it is the right thing to do.
Ron Fleischer
 'This Thread is dedicated to all Veterans who served, and still serve, their country to ensure that each of us can live where freedom of religion is a right, not a privilege. Without you, there would be no Christmas. We ask all who view this thread to take a moment this Christmas morning to remember all those who served and are serving our Country and to pray for those who cannot be with their families.' -- Antijen, MistyCA and SAMWolf |
