Most of my family served in the military. This morning I was thinking about how fortunate we were not to have lost any of our family members to war. I had one dear friend who sacrificed his life in Vietnam to save his fellow soldiers. He was the kindest and sweetest young man who had a bright future ahead of him. I am not surprised he laid down his life for others.
This morning I have been reading and looking at photographs of young faces that disembarked at Normandy, many to die within the first hour of the invasion.
I also read about the burial at sea of 69 crew members of the USS Intrepid following the attack by two kamikaze pilots on November 25, 1944, just two days after Thanksgiving.
These are just two events. There are SO many, too many, but if we forget them, we do a disservice to the soldiers who fought for our lives and our freedoms. I never forget there are lives and families on both sides of any military conflict.
As we sit down to enjoy our barbecues and meals and beach days with friends and family, I think about how many people only have a few medals and an American flag folded in a triangle to remember their loved ones. I can not imagine that loss.
There are still 81,700 American service members never accounted for from WWII onward.
Today I am humbled by the sacrifices made to protect our freedoms and our way of life. May God bless all the families who mourn these losses today. I am forever grateful and always hope that mankind will someday, somehow, find a way other than war to settle our differences.
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