"To Serve And Protect"

By Jerry Stewart - Vision Productions

IT WAS GENERAL GEORGE PATTON WHO SAID, “WARS MAY BE FOUGHT WITH WEAPONS, BUT WARS ARE WON BY MEN”.

PRESIDENT HARRY TRUMAN SAID, “AMERICA WAS NOT BUILT ON FEAR, BUT ON COURAGE, ON IMAGINATION, AND AN UNBEATABLE DETERMINATION TO DO THE JOB AT HAND”.

GOING ALL THE WAY BACK TO THE BEGINNING, AMERICA HAS BEEN BLESSED WITH BRAVE AND COURAGEOUS MEN WHO HAVE BEEN WILLING TO GIVE IT ALL FOR THE AMERICA THEY LOVE.

NATHAN HALE, WHO’S LAST WORDS BEFORE BEING HUNG BY THE BRITISH ARMY, “I REGRET I HAVE BUT ONE LIFE TO LOSE FOR MY COUNTRY”.

CAPTAIN JAMES LAWRENCE, COMMANDER OF THE AMERICAN SHIP, THE CHESAPEAKE, FATALLY WOUNDED EARLY IN THE BATTLE, MANNING HIS POST FROM THE COCKPIT ORDERING TO HIS LAST BREATH, “KEEP THE GUNS GOING! FIGHT HER TILL SHE STRIKES OR SINKS! DON’T GIVE UP THE SHIP!”

AND THIS IS THE SAME UNBELIEVABLE COURAGE WE SEE IN OUR BRAVE SOLDIERS TODAY. MEN AND WOMEN WHO ARE WILLING TO GIVE THEIR VERY LIVES FOR THEIR COUNTRY.

OVER THE LAST YEARS I’VE HAD THE GREAT OPPORTUNITY TO INTERVIEW WAR VETERANS. I’VE TALKED WITH MEN WHO FOUGHT IN WORLD WAR II, THE KOREAN WAR, THE VIETNAM WAR. I’VE TALKED WITH FOOT SOLDIERS WHO FOUGHT IN EUROPE, ONE MAN WHO WAS CAPTURED AT THE BATTLE OF THE BULGE AND SPENT 4 MONTHS IN A GERMAN CONCENTRATION CAMP. I’VE TALKED WITH ONE MARINE RANGER WHO WAS FORCED TO KILL THE ENEMY WITH HIS BARE HANDS. A PT BOAT GUNNER, AN AIRPLANE MECHANIC, A JET FIGHTER PILOT, AND HELICOPTER CREW CHIEF, A TANK GUNNER, MEN FROM EVERY POSSIBLE CIRCUMSTANCE, AND I FIND TWO THINGS TO BE CONSISTENTLY TRUE.

FIRST, EACH OF THEM, TO A MAN, BELIEVES THAT WHATEVER HE DID IN THE WAR WASN’T ANYTHING SPECIAL. HE WAS JUST DOING HIS JOB. TO PUT HIS LIFE ON THE LINE FOR OUR COUNTRY WAS HIS JOB, HIS RESPONSIBILITY, AND EACH WAS PROUD TO SERVE.

SECOND, EACH BRAVE WAR VETERAN I HAVE SPOKEN TO ALWAYS WANTS TO GIVE THE CREDIT TO SOMEONE ELSE AND EACH OF THEM IS HESITANT TO TAKE ANY CREDIT FOR THEMSELVES. THAT IS AMAZING.

BUT THAT’S THE KIND OF PEOPLE AMERICA IS MADE OF. WE CAN BE SO THANKFUL FOR THE HEROES, THOSE WHO RIDE IN CARS DURING PARADES, THOSE WHO ARE LAVISHED WITH AWARDS AND MEDALS AND PRAISE. WE CAN THANK GOD FOR THEM. BUT WARS ARE NOT WON BY A FEW DECORATED HEROES. FOR EVERY ONE DECORATED HERO, THERE ARE LITERALLY MILLIONS OF BRAVE AMERICAN SOLDIERS WHO HAVE FOUGHT TO GIVE US THE FREEDOM WE HAVE TODAY.

WE ARE SO THANKFUL.