All this can be summed up under our beautiful flag, our red, white and blue. But oftentimes we forget the people who keep our country safe and those who make it possible to fly our flag. The Army, the Marines, and Navy, and the Air Force - our armed forces. These people have sacrificed so much to give us freedom; they are willing to put their futures, their families, and even their lives on the line to let you go out about your lives in peace.
They protect us and how do we thank them? Detest with no end, scorn of the most petty kind. By what right do we scorn them? They allow you to live a life and live without fear, and yet we treat them less then human! Why?!
They often suffer severe traumatic stress from seeing death and destruction almost daily; it festers and infects their souls, but still they press on for freedom and the Americans they're protecting. That soul sickness stays with them for their whole lives; they aways remember the sight of a friend being shot down. It's forever burned into their memories and yet they go on. By facing these ordeals, they become strong; they are no longer swayed by the horrific battles they faced. But those battles are nothing compared to what awaits them back home.
Endless waiting at the VA hospital and even then they might still be ignored. Rejection from family and the "patriotic" Americans they kept safe. Yet they bear even this. Why? Because they are strong. Not just Army strong; they have a different kind of strong. They may look hard core, but know under all the hard core Army grit they still have beating hearts, hearts that feel pain, rejection, and hate.
Why do we make them go through this? They are the true Americans. They are the brave who who keep America the land of the free. The special kind of strength that they have is their true American sprit, the sprit that keeps them strong.
The Fourth of July is their day. Make sure to give them the honor they deserve, a hundred a hundred times over. Our soldiers are the free, the brave, and our honored; they are our protection, which has cost them a lot. Too much. Be proud of them.
Photo Credit: Dedicated to Heroes (http://dedicatedtoheroes.blogspot.com/2011/12/dedicated-to-heroes-announces-real.html)
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