The Reality of Freedom

I think it is generally understood by Americans that the freedom they enjoy was bought with a very high price. At least they understand it logically. I often wonder how many Americans truly understand the brutal reality of this price.

On December 8th, 1941, President Franklin Roosevelt stood before the Congress of this country and spoke those famous words about the horrific attack on Pearl Harbor the day before. He ended that speech with the following:

"Always will we remember the character of the onslaught against us. No matter how long it may take us to overcome this premeditated invasion, the American people in their righteous might will win through to absolute victory.

I believe I interpret the will of the Congress and of the people when I assert that we will not only defend ourselves to the uttermost but will make very certain that this form of treachery shall never endanger us again.

Hostilities exist. There is no blinking at the fact that our people, our territory and our interests are in grave danger.

With confidence in our armed forces - with the unbounded determination of our people - we will gain the inevitable triumph - so help us God.

I ask that the Congress declare that since the unprovoked and dastardly attack by Japan on Sunday, December seventh, a state of war has existed between the United States and the Japanese Empire."

To those living at the time the President's words were not shocking or surprising. They were simply the echoes of their own thoughts and feelings. From the back woods of Maine to the suburbs of Los Angeles the people of this Nation rose up against those forces that threatened the lives of our citizens, our freedom, and indeed our very way of life. The objectives were clear. The consequences understood by all. And the cost would be very high. For more than 400,000 Americans the cost was the highest that any human could give.

The price was enormous but the price was paid. And America survives today as a testament to their bravery and sacrifice.

Men left their homes and their families by the thousands and ventured to foreign lands and endured hardships that can scarcely be comprehended. Young boys left their parents, friends and sweethearts and never came home. Imagine those young men not even old enough to drink alcohol today crouching in foxholes listening to constant explosions around them pondering the reality that the next explosion could very well rip their young bodies to shreds. Or the men on an island in the Pacific that had seen almost every person in their platoon die trying to take the same small stretch of soil but they continued to fight as if that soil was a part of their very own backyard. Or the men in the bombers over Germany flying through clouds of flak explosions knowing that the very next second could be their last. So many men never returned from those missions - or those battles. Those who returned would never be the same. Forever changed by the reality of war. For those of us who weren't there we cannot know or fully understand what it was like - to see and hear and smell and feel what they did. Fortunately for us we don't have to. Because they already did.

Four hundred thousand is a big number. It's a lot of men who would never again enjoy the comforts we so easily take for granted in this country. For most, their stories are all but lost in time. Their acts of courage and bravery never to be told. Their children never to be born. But their lives did make a difference. And the legacy of that difference endures as long as we never forget.

Tomorrow is November 11th. Many Americans won't even know that it's Veteran's Day unless they see it in mentioned in the news or read it in the paper. November 11th was set aside originally in 1938 to remember those who served in the Great War (WWI). November 11, 1918 was the day that the Armistice was signed that ended WWI. In 1954 it was expanded to include those Americans who served in any war.

This country was founded on the idea that every person is given certain undeniable rights from the moment they are born. And it's worth giving our very lives to protect those rights for our posterity. I, along with my family, stand in most humble respect and reverence towards those Americans who have fought and those who have died and those who are fighting today for the ideals of freedom and liberty that define this country.

What would the world have been like if those 400,000 Americans wouldn't have died? What would the world be like if we spoke German instead of English?