Independence Day Honoring the Sacrifice of Others

 

There are people in this world that live lives of daily sacrifice. Every day heroes that do the job that no one else can, that no one else will. Young, barely out of school; old, over 30 years in service, they grow tired, and bear the burden of the generation now living, and the generations yet to come. They do what needs to be done.

 

Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine, Coast Guard, they buckle on the uniform because they must. Somewhere deep inside them is a lust for duty, for the honor of serving their country. They pour their life energies into tasks they can seldom speak about, jobs that have no analogue in civilian life. 

 

Whenever you meet them, not on the street, but in their places of uniformed work, in their stations of duty, you see unexcelled professionalism, with a focus on doing the best they can do, then pushing themselves beyond the mere ordinary. 

 

There has never been a better-led, more motivated, better trained, and more capable fighting force in the history of this country…in the history of the world. 

 

We should not just honor them, we should embrace those who have given the last full measure of their lives for this country. We must honor the families they have left behind, as they go to rest in Arlington and a thousand other cemeteries across this broad land. But they need more than honor. They need — they deserve — major financial assistance, college educations for their kids, and family health care unexcelled, in recognition of the sacrificial burdens that they continually bear. 

 

These are the wounded, thrown into wars not of their choosing. Their bodies, minds, and souls bear the scars of battle that will never heal. Some able to move about the world on their own, others barely able to move in their wheelchairs from which they will never emerge.

 

They have believed in their country. They have bled for it from their souls. They have paid for it with their sacrifices. They need more than our “Thank you for your service.” They need much more than our spoken appreciation. They need our dollars, our service in their behalf. They need politicians who honor all they have given, by giving back what they each need, what they all deserve, where and how they really need it.

 

This 4th of July, salute the sacrifices of those who labor at home, and far from our shores in our behalf. If you have not known one of these, if you have not recently reached out to make an important difference in the lives of at least one, then you do not deserve the sacrifices they have made…and continue to make, for you, your family, and those you love. 

 

In the end…as at the beginning, they deserve all we have to make them whole. They need it now…not just promises, but actions that will lift their spirits, their economic conditions, and give their children the education they deserve.

 

On the 4th of July, when we celebrate our great country, and the remarkable freedoms we experience every day, we must celebrate those who made it possible — who insure the next generation of Americans will enjoy it too.