Our vets serve from the frontlines to the supply lines - & we opt for the sidelines?

For many of us, Memorial Day still holds a place in our lives where we honor those who laid down theirs in service of our country… in exchange for their brethren, in fact. 1 John 3:16 gives us the context: “Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.” KJV Among friends are many whose parents stood in harm’s way during World War II: a father who, as senior member of Gen. Patton’s staff, ran the gauntlet of blazing howitzers and tanks; an uncle who was a Navy aviator in the Pacific theatre; a father who weathered the horrors of a Japanese prison camp; my father who sailed Liberty ships through straits of enemy submarines and battleships. They each, and so many hundreds of thousands of brave souls, have manned the frontlines and fed the supply lines in wars that saved nations, teetering on the brink of ruin, from plummeting into tyranny.

This day we honor all warriors, men and women, who made that ultimate sacrifice to assure the freedom we still have (when last I looked) to live and breathe with ease on a planet rife with oppressive governments. But I focus on the Second Great War for a reason beyond a personal connection to it – one that has come about because of a generation dismissive of the true history leading to and ending WWII. It is history begrudged, belittled and besmirched by those who have redefined the purpose of war, and the leading spokesman for that is President Obama. Less than a week ago, the president of the United States had the cheek to stand at Hiroshima, Japan and denigrate his own nation’s involvement in the conflict, fully disregarding why and how it even came to pass. Rather, he waxed poetic about the incongruent effects of war, implying our guilt in being forced to extreme efforts to end a bloody conflict brought on by an aggressor’s unprovoked attack. Obama attempted to redefine the cause of war (by ignoring it) and what suffering and casualty war may acceptably inflict. In his mind, and the minds of younger generations removed from real hardship, war has been re-characterized as a cultural clash where violence is only justified because of misunderstood, no, make that foolish concepts of “equality” and “fairness.” By inserting the search for “fairness” into the rationale for war, America’s inexperienced and gullible have conceded the nonexistence of evil. These leaders of progressive thought have abdicated responsibility for any and all actions, both personally and as a political entity. If anything goes (i.e. there are no moral boundaries) then there is essentially no justification for war or violence unless personal beliefs and behavior are not condoned. Meaning, if society in general doesn’t give the high sign to whatever an individual or group declares is a good and worthy endeavor, violent reaction is valid. Therefore, people can carry out a bloody protest against someone’s words (including laws) with which they disagree, but defending against said protesters’ aggression isn’t an option.

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These new guidelines are what stand behind Obama’s criticism of the United States. In the meantime, he negates the brutality of Axis powers in the past, and exonerates Islamic terror states of today, citing cultural differences as an excuse. But there is no excuse for evil, no matter what it has been renamed. It is the courage of men and women willing to take up arms to fight those intending to subjugate our free way of life, that gives us hope for the future. These are the heroes who waged war on land, sea and from the air to guarantee every individual’s right to speak their mind, whatever their ideas – good, bad or ignorant. I will thank God for my father’s and yours’ readiness to battle the obvious evil that swarmed the world some 70 years ago. And I will thank God for every patriot who has fought every onslaught of this nation since its founding. I pray that you, too, will do so.