IN DEFENSE OF COMMON SENSE
By Hetty Gray
# 292
Memorial Day
May 30, 2021
My generation is nearly the four-score mark. Reared by parents and teachers who loved this country, our patriotism was imbedded with a deep respect for those who serve in our military. The families in our community that had lost their fathers, sons, brothers, uncles, grandsons underscored the sacrifice from coast to coast.
My parents’ generation fought in World War II. They knew that freedom was not free and that defending those who fell under the Axis Powers was a duty imbued with a love for the freedom that they had lost. Compounding their zeal was the fact that countless numbers of those soldiers, sailors, airmen and merchant mariners represented the offspring of immigrants who had come to America from Europe and Scandinavia.
Today, across this land, people strolled among the tombstones cemeteries of every description – military, church, community, family….
The brass plaques and white stones should make us all proud. I ignore those who would decry the holiday as unnecessary. They are oblivious to truth and ignorant of their own history.
Whenever you see a person with a cap from one of our armed services, stop and thank him or her for the service given. We are a volunteer army. Skills today demand far more than aiming a rifle or driving a tank. Yet, at the heart of the service, is love of country.
May none of us fail to remember that every freedom we enjoy was paid for in the blood and treasure of those who came before us, stood up and took it upon themselves to defend the most precious of all rights. We are free. They gave us that freedom.
God bless our fallen and wounded. God bless America. She needs God more now than ever.