Veteran’s Day from the Mind of a 10 Year Old.
Let’s not have today become the forgotten holiday. It is imperative that we share the stories of the sacrifices of those who have gone before us with those who come after us. When I think about it, our ability to maintain this site, to speak my mind, to even live as I choose, is a result of the sacrifices made by those before me who stood firm in support of our country and our freedoms.
Too many people died face down in the mud so we could live our lives in freedom. Sure, there are days when we may be frustrated with work or our government leaders or other complexities of life; but we live in a country where we have freedoms that billions of others world-wide only long for. When you think of that, it provides more meaning to the day. During a family discussion a few years ago about the reality of what today meant, especially to our kids (besides a mid-week day out of school), my then ten year old son shared this poem he had written.
V – Victorious soldiers leave the war
E – Eleventh day, hour and month
T – Together, America stands
E – Even in Iraq
R – Ready we are; again and again
A – Another soldier home; hooray, hooray
N – No more war to come near
S – So long war, so long.
The original, hand scrawled, poem (in the best handwriting a 10 year old boy can muster) still hangs proudly on our wall to this day.
“Mankind must put an end to war before war puts an end to mankind.” John F Kennedy
