Holidays allows us to see how valuable our soldiers are
This Sunday is Veterans Day, a time when our nation honors the approximately 24 million veterans who have served in our armed forces as well as those currently serving all over the world. These individuals and their selfless commitment to preserving our liberty are an inspiration to us all and represent the best of America.
America is, by far, the freest country in the world. Before our nation was founded, the concepts of religious freedom, free expression and limited government did not exist. At that time, most of the world’s population lived at the mercy of the ruling monarchs of their countries and could lose their homes, their families or their lives simply for angering their leaders. Of course, as societies have evolved, most countries have followed the example set by America and formed democracies of their own.
However, millions of people all over the world still suffer from oppression. In Middle East countries, China, Russia, Venezuela, North Korea, Myanmar and many other countries, citizens continue to live at the mercy of their government. Corrupt tyrants rule their nations with violence, hatred and fear. In the forms of communism, fascism and religious fanaticism, these governments continue to deny their citizens basic human rights while demanding unquestioned obedience and conformity.
But while these people suffer, we in America take our freedom for granted every day. We have grown so accustomed to the many privileges that American citizenship provides that we often don’t take the time to reflect on just how fortunate we are to live in a country where we are free to follow our dreams and openly protest against our government without fear of imprisonment or execution.
America was never given this freedom, our nation had to earn it on the battlefield. Throughout our history, American soldiers have fought against tyranny all over the world to gain and maintain the rights that we hold dear. We are free today because of past generations of Americans who gave up everything they had to fight for what they believe in.
To defend our freedom, ordinary people have made extraordinary sacrifices. They leave behind friends, parents, children and spouses to travel to faraway lands to fight for a better tomorrow for America’s future generations. These brave men and women are willing to make these sacrifices because they know that freedom has a high price and that even though it is difficult to gain, it can very easily be taken away. As Ronald Reagan put it, “freedom is never more than one generation from extinction.”
American soldiers have braved the bitter cold of Valley Forge and the sweltering heat in Iraq. They’ve fought on the blood-soaked battlefields of Antietam and Gettysburg, on the beaches of Normandy and in the damp trenches in France, the thick jungles of Vietnam, the Korean peninsula and multiple islands in the Pacific all for a cause greater than themselves.
In their fight against oppression, our soldiers have liberated untold millions across the globe and continue to protect them as well as us. They are stationed all over the world, providing support to all free nations while they work to help spread the light of liberty to people who have spent their whole lives in darkness. Time after time, they prove former Sen. Zell Miller to be correct when he said that “never in the history of the world has anyone sacrificed more for the freedom and liberty of total strangers than the American soldier.”
This Sunday, when our nation honors its soldiers and mourns those who have lost their lives in combat, we should all set aside some time to say a prayer and thank God for the men and women who are willing to put their lives on the line to keep the world safe for democracy so that we can continue to live free. They are America’s heroes and they deserve our gratitude.
Tony Spadaccia freshman political science and business management major.
About Us | Supplements | Advertising | Contact Us
Website design by Erik Pitzer ('07)
