Today is the day we set aside once a year to honor soldiers who served and are still serving our country. These men and women made the choice to pay the ultimate sacrifice for others to enjoy the freedoms we have. Think about blogging as a perfect example. How many people in other countries do NOT have the freedom to just jump on their computer and speak their mind, ramble about nothing, and voice their religious beliefs? I am sure there aren't very many. I think about some friends serving as missionaries in a foreign country. Because of governmental restrictions, they cannot send or receive emails that have any information about what they are REALLY doing there. We should take today to think about all of the freedoms we are able to enjoy in America and truly think of WHY we are able to enjoy them.
'Thank you' will NEVER be enough for these men and women and their families. The families that have paid the absolute ultimate price in the loss of their loved one serving in the military should also be honored today. We always refer to our soldiers as heros but the other heros are the ones that are left at home while the soldiers are serving and protecting our safety and freedom on foreign soil. The dad that is at home with young children forced into a role of being Mom and Dad; The mom that is at home having to protect and provide for the immediate needs of her children; The young son who was told "you're the man of the house while I am gone" just before dad marched onto the airplane; The teenage daughter that needs the affirmation and love of her father to be very real and at hand when she experiences the first break-up...they are all heros too!
I am thankful for all of those men and women who have given the greatest sacrifice of all. Their own lives! John 15:13: Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
The picture is my grandfather, Henry Russell Hartman.
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