Where Would We Be Without Them?

Remember this-

A writer can write, a reporter can report, a protestor can bitch and raise holy hell and a preacher can preach hell fire and brimstone-or love and forgiveness-but without the soldier willing to lay down his life and limb in the ultimate sacrifice, if necessary, it's all an impossible dream. It is the soldier, in fact, that makes all that, and everything else, possible.

In honoring our soldiers on Veterans Day, though, one simple fact escapes most people. It is actually honoring ourselves when we do this, for it is done with an assumption that we all might one day have something worthwhile to contribute in return in a free and democratic society.

Back in the days of the old monarchies, a patriotic soldier layed down life and limb in the service of his sovereign lord, the king or queen. It was in the kings honor that the soldier did so. In many cases, it was for the church, or some similarly powerful, elite ruling entity.

Now, in our country, it is for us, the citizens of our country, we who are the true sovereigns of our nation-not the President, not the Congress, not the judiciary-that he does so. At least, that is the way it is suppossed to be.

That is a hell of a responsibility to live up to, and we should all strive to be worthy of it.