― Jonathan Safran Foer, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
On Veterans Day, November 11th, please take time to sincerely reflect on the sacrifices that are being made and have been made by our military and intelligence communities at home and abroad. Be thankful for the life you lead as a United States citizen. Show your gratitude for those who love their own country enough to make the ultimate sacrifice. Author C.K Chesterton once wrote -“The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him.” We protect what we love. Contemplation on that statement alone is intensely profound.
Although I've never experienced combat or fought in battle I am certainly indebted to those brave men and women who protect our freedoms. Understand this, there are many countries in the world where I would be arrested and thrown in jail for writing or saying some of the things I take for granted every day. In many countries women are denied the most basic human dignities. Women are denied the right to vote, have a career, own property or manage money, choose or use any form of birth control, select who they marry, walk the streets without a man , attend school, drive a vehicle or even reveal their faces in public. In some countries their citizens aren't allowed to openly protest or criticize their own government, read controversial books or literature, be openly gay or practice their own religious beliefs. In many countries parents force their own children to work fourteen hours or more a day to buy food and necessities. These children never attend school and some girls are sold or married off to men twice their age.
So the next time you are sitting comfortably in front of your big screen TV, inside your expensive homes with your overflowing pantry shelves and whine about your cell phones, cable bill or used car, put your life in perspective. Be truly thankful. We must all be thankful.
Below is a link to an article I wrote expressing my gratitude for a few outstanding veterans organizations that continue to transform the lives of millions of veterans and civilians:
