I had a grandfather on one side who was a little older and had to do some fast-talking to convince them to let him serve in Europe during world war 2. My grandmother on the other side was a "Rosy Riveter" who built planes for the war.
I think none of my grandparents would believe how much the country has changed today. Liberty, individual freedom and responsibility and nurturing for family and local community were their values. Nowadays most of us hardly know our neighbors, let alone nurture our community. Socialism in any form was a dirty word and my grandfather was so against socialism that he never even cashed a social security check even though he paid into the system and even though he was far from wealthy and lived in a very modest home and helped his son work the family farm until the day he died in his 80s. Not because he had to, but because that was how he pursued happiness.
Grandpa once told me that no matter what dream a person chose to pursue in life, and no matter what the competition was, there was always room at the top for the best. He also told me that when you take something, you pay for it in return in some way whether you mean to or not. He was talking about the strings attached to government programs on all levels as well as the principles of management of his farm and the animals and land and family and friendship and community (he was not only a farmer, but the first electrician in his town, a small retail businessman, one of the first automobile mechanics in his town and the mayor of his town).
I am grateful for the sacrifice of that generation, and hope that it still means something more than "we kick ass so don't mess with us" and "we are the best" by the time my own grandchildren are grown. I hope the sacrifice of my grandparents still means my grandchildren are free to pursue their dreams of happiness without a lot of government in the way forcing them to beg permission of the state to do it and speak their minds without a lot of government eavesdropping and censorship and travel freely within country without a lot of paperwork and documentation and permission and searches and indignity...
Freedom isn't free. Sometimes it requires military sacrifice. Sometimes it requires vigilance to hold politicians accountable at election time. Sometimes it requires courage to pursue one's dreams in spite of the risks of a world that has been dangerous since time began and the courage to allow others pursue their dreams and the courage to allow open exchange of thought and debate...
For me, pursuing my dreams and never forgetting the principles of liberty that gave us something to fight for in the first place is the way I try to honor the sacrifice of the warriors of World War 2.
I will never forget why they fought and died...
