A Memorial Day Letter
On this Memorial Day, I wanted to take time to personally thank all of the millions of brave men and women, who, since the beginning of this country's history, have fought to defend the way of life that we so easily take for granted.
Dear Veterans and Soldiers,
As I stop to think about another Memorial Day, I realize that sometimes the hype of the day drowns out the true purpose that it has. It's hard to remember the men and women who have fought for us when we are lying on a beach, beginning our summer vacation. But the truth is that you get no vacation. You live under fire constantly; you have no breaks or time outs; no place to go to escape the gun fire and the suffering. But rest assured, you have our support. While I can never, ever even begin to fathom the experience of being in a foreign country, fighting for a cause that people just simply expect, I can only think to thank you.
Thank you for answering the call to service and fighting to defend the people of the United States. Thank you for persevering when almost half of the country is against your cause. Thank you for continuing your duty, even when the vile and evil hatred of protesters threaten to disrupt the funerals of your brothers. Thank you for standing up in a sea of millions and saying "I will do it; I will fight for you." Thank you for putting yourself in harms way every day of the year in order that we may continue our lives back home and only think of you on one of those days. Thank you, soldier, for making it possible to hold my child, an innocent life, yet a free one, and tell him that he will die a free man because of the service of millions he will never know. Thank you. Thank you for everything.
To the Veterans of wars past, and the soon-to-be Veterans of wars present, I owe you more than my life. I owe you my well-being, my family, my home, and every aspect of a free society. I would say that you could never grasp the depth of my gratitude, but then you could say I would never grasp the depth of your service. And this is true. It is beyond comprehension.
I also want to apologize for the actions of those I do not know, and the millions who use the right you fight to protect to work against you. It is sad that you fight for freedom, and some use this freedom to bestow hate against the soldiers themselves. Those who are ignorant will never learn that a soldier merely acts as he or she is told. They do not work politically, or fight selectively for a certain party. But there are always those who believe the best way to protest an administration is to direct their anger towards the executors of that administration - the soldiers. I beg you, please do not collapse under the fire of these vocal weapons. Please ignore them, for they will never understand your sacrifice until they lose freedom themselves.
So on this Memorial Day, I want to humbly thank you. I want to remind you that, while we may truly only think of it a few days a year, your service is appreciated and honored. Thank you.
