Veterans and Why We Will Survive

This past week we witnessed something that is quite remarkable. Something that is unique to just a few nations and something that our United States of America has done longer and better than any other nation in the history of the world. This past election we had a dramatic shift or change in the powers and philosophy of the executive branch of our nation and we did it peacefully.

Sure, there was a lot of unpleasant rancor in the campaigns, words were heated and it was not a political season that made us particularly proud of either party. However, as the results of the election rolled in and the pundits and experts were surprised and some were shocked, things remained peaceful.

In other nations, in other parts of the world a change in power that dramatic would entail tanks in the street, violence and ultimately bloodshed. To my knowledge we had none of that. There was no call to arms, there were no riots, and ultimately, no National Guard tanks rolling down city streets. A peaceful transition of power is a rare thing in our world and in history. The United States has gotten so good at it that we do not blink an eye or give it a second thought.

Election Day was so momentous and so big that it overshadowed another holiday this past week. You could make the argument that Election Day distracted us from a holiday that should be celebrated as the reason for a peaceful day. That holiday would be Veteran’s Day. The day that we should celebrate all the brave men and women who have served our nation and protected our rights, including the right to vote.

Too often we see Veteran’s Day as just another mark on the calendar and, for many of us, just another day off. Veteran’s Day is much more than that and the peace that followed the election Tuesday is a very vivid reminder of how much Veteran’s Day should mean. We enjoy unprecedented freedoms and privileges in the United States and we owe all of it to our Veterans.

We can never repay the sacrifice of the brave citizens who stepped forward and faced enemies on foreign lands to keep us safe on our soil. They willingly gave up their comfort and security to ensure ours. Many gave the ultimate price so that we could walk in and cast our vote, knowing that we could do so in peace. Others still suffer from injuries both seen and unseen that they will carry with them the rest of their lives. Everyone who fought to protect us sacrificed a piece of themselves for each of us and our freedoms.

Those who served in times of peace should also not be forgotten. Who is to say that without a strong military we would not have faced other threats during that time. Their service should not be forgotten or minimized in any way. They also gave of their time and talents for each of us, helping to insure the security of our nation and the safety of each of us.

I fear we have become too comfortable with our safety and with our freedoms and we have forgotten the price paid for them. That is why Veteran’s Day is so important and why we should not view it as just another holiday that some of us don’t have to go to work on. We should take the time to seek out the Veterans around us and thank them for their service and sacrifice

This year more than any other is a reason to celebrate our freedoms and the strength of our great nation. We have just witnessed a rather dramatic change in our President and yet each of us woke up this morning with the certainty that we would be able to go to our jobs, go about our business and return home in peace, all because of the service and the protection of everyone who served in any branch of the military. For that we should be eternally grateful.

I know we will still see some conflict between parties in the upcoming weeks and we will experience some heartburn because of the elections. The United States will be in the world spotlight and I hope we will seize this opportunity to show the rest of the world how a peaceful transition of power should go. We should also be keenly aware of the fact that this will happen because of the solid foundation of democracy our nation is built upon.

This is a foundation that has been built and maintained by every brave soul who has every served in our military, from those in the Revolutionary War to those currently serving us in our war on terror. If it were not for their bravery and service none of this would be possible. We celebrate Election Day because of Veteran’s Day.

Recognizing Their Sacrifices

Memorial Day Weekend, a three day weekend, the unofficial start of summer, all things that I heard this past weekend. Is that what Memorial Day Weekend is about? Camping, resting and relaxing, and barbeques with family, these are all important things and events. However, often I think we get so caught up in our lives that we miss the real meaning of holidays like Memorial Day.

Memorial Day was set aside as a time for us to remember those who protected the freedoms that we often take for granted. I am not sure I really understood the meaning of the holiday until recently and even now I am not sure I still completely grasp the sacrifice made for me. My Memorial Day experience helped bring the message home, let me share that with you.

We went to the Attica cemetery to decorate the graves of Jennifer’s family. Call me morbid but one of the things I do is to walk through the cemetery and read the grave stones. I walked up and down the rows of stones reading each one. I especially paused at those marked by American flags. Each had a marker displaying the unit each person served in and many stated which war. Some with ending dates before the end of the war, many with indicators of a life lived after the war.

For some reason a thought hit me, one that should have occurred to me long ago. Each of these veterans left their life and families at home. They felt the calling to protect our country, and dropped what they were doing to go to a foreign land, put themselves in harm’s way to insure our ability to live freely. They left businesses, school and farms to enlist in one of the armed forces.

Those of us who are in agriculture know that it is no small task to our farms and ranches for a weekend, these brave men and women left for years at a time. They felt a since of duty that led them to do the most difficult thing any farmer and rancher could do, leave their farm, ranches and families. They left with crops to be planted or harvested, hay to be baled, sheep, pigs and cows to be tended to, all because there was another, more pressing job to be done. They left not knowing if they would return.

We should also not forget the parents, children and younger siblings left behind to make sure the crops were harvested and food was available. They stepped up and shouldered the yoke, pulling more weight than they would have been asked to normally. They kept things running back home while the most able bodied protected us in faraway lands.

I was humbled as I watched the memorial service. The flags and honor guard silhouetted by the golden wheat fields in the distance, the red, white and blue of our flag framed by the brilliant blue of the sky. I could only imagine a soldier taking one last look at the ripe wheat on a hot day, perfect for harvest as he left for war. I am sure he was assured by his family that they would make sure the work was done, all they while hoping he would be back before the next harvest.

I listened to the speeches and watched the veterans as they talked about the sacrifice of their comrades. I am sure the meaning of the day hits closer to home when you stood beside someone who did not come back, when you personally know what sacrifice means. Knowing that those you knew never made it home for harvest. It is for their sake that we need to remember that Memorial Day is more than just a three day weekend.

I am not saying we should devote the entire holiday to remembrance (although I am also not saying it would be a bad thing), rather I hope that next year each of us will take time to attend one of the ceremonies. I hope you will stop to think about the sacrifice made on our behalf, a sacrifice that insured that our great nation would stand strong and that the freedoms we take for granted would remain. I know we all have family members who served and most of us have family members who sacrificed. Take time to remember them next year.

That afternoon as we drove by the golden wheat fields and green pastures, I felt an overwhelming sense of pride and a numbing feeling of gratitude for those brave men and women who served and continue to serve our armed forces. They sacrificed and continue to sacrifice well-being and many times their lives to give us the benefits and luxuries we all enjoy. The least we can do is give them a couple of hours.