Freedom is never free...

In the beginning of a change, the patriot is a scarce man, and brave, and hated and scorned. When his cause succeeds, the timid join him, for then it costs nothing to be a patriot.

~Mark Twain, Notebook, 1935



I'm a bit early posting this for Veteran's Day, but I figured it would take me a while to compose both my thoughts and myself. I have a hard time speaking about Veteran's Day. Though I may be a wife and sister, nothing has shaped my outlook on life as much as being the daughter of a Vietnam Veteran.

Jose Narosky once said that, "In war, are there are no uninjured soldiers." I think that anyone who has truly known a veteran of war can see the amazing wisdom and painful truth in that statement. As the proud daughter of a U.S. Marine, granddaughter of the Army and Navy, I can't help but get a little emotional when, as a nation, we acknowledge our veterans.

To many, Veteran's Day is marked by the One-Day-Sale that JC Pennys throws every year or a day home from school or work (one that the University of California refused to acknowledge until three years ago). To me, it's a time to reflect upon what I've been given and, in turn, what has been taken from others. I've been given the ability to live a life limited only by my desires and not by fear or dictation. Liberty is easy to take for granted when it's never been taken from you. So, what was it's cost? What did another pay in order that I may live in peace? They, the brave men and women who have served in every war and conflict, have paid that ransom. From World War II to the current war in Iraq, men and women are paying with THEIR freedom. They give up the ability to come and go on that observed day off, to shop that sale, to live in the bliss of ignorance. They, instead, agreed to leave their spouses, their young children, their lives. They agreed to see the worst of human kind, to see things that no one should have to witness, and to do things that no God-fearing, compassionate human should have to do. You don't make those kind of sacrifices without allowing a part of yourself to change...die...forever. Ask any serviceman's wife...the man who came home to her WAS NOT the man she sent. Any child of a veteran will tell you that there were times when they only had half of that parent.

These men and women give up so much for us, that a day in their honor is hardly enough to say "thank you." As JFK once said, "...we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them." I say that, instead of claiming to be a patriot and an American, we start living in appreciation of those people who have made that possible.

*Think twice before swerving around the 75 year old driver in front of you as he thwarts your progress...he may have helped liberate a Nazi internment camp.

*Support legislation, and implore your representatives to do the same, that improves the health care options and coverage for our vets. (When they signed up to fight for your freedom, your silence and inaction was a response of "yes, we will take care of you when YOU need it.")

*Attend a Veteran's Day parade...even if you don't know a vet.

*GET MAD when you hear of a serviceman's wife being deported while he is fighting in Iraq...GET MAD when you hear that our returning soldiers are being offered no better mental health treatment than their fathers were offered when they came home from Vietnam...resist the urge to judge and GET MAD when you see a homeless vet on the street, begging for your spare anything.

*At this holiday season, take one of the multitude of opportunities to say "thank you" to our service men and women by sending care packages, Christmas Cards, and other correspondence to those over-seas...let them know that, at this holy time, we are praying for and indebted to each and every one of them.

*Teach your children to honor and look up to REAL heroes...

And, in our daily lives, let us not forget that:

It is the soldier, not the reporter, who gave us freedom of the press.
It is the soldier, not the poet, who has given us freedom of speech.
It is the soldier, not the campus organizer, who has given us the freedom to demonstrate.
It is the soldier who salutes the flag, who serves the flag, and whose coffin is draped by the flag...

Who allows the protester to burn the flag.

- General Douglas MacArthur

Amen.