Remembering America’s Goodness

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Somewhere over Cotentin Peninsula, Normandy, France in the pre-dawn darkness American C-47s are being shot out of the sky by German FLAK.  Some, still carrying their cargo- members of the 82nd and 101st Airborne, explode in midair, and others crash; parachutists never making their jumps.  Pilots stop following formations, put on the green light before their DZ are even reached and the sky is littered with American soldiers who somehow navigate through hell and find themselves miles away from their objectives…

There’s been a lot of talk over the past few years about America’s Greatness, or lack thereof.  Depending on what individual perception is of what makes something great is something that could be debated for ages.  Some people take issue with perceived social injustices and use personal experiences to make the case that America is not great, and others point to the past as some kind of proof that America never has been great.

Alexis De Tocqueville once observed that America was great because America was good.  While he meant that goodness was found in the churches across America, goodness still can be found in people- especially those who have preserved the freedoms not just America, but for others around the world.

For those who question America’s greatness, it would behoove them to consider America’s Greatest Generation, and others who have followed in their combat boots; those who continue to bear the torch passed on over generations of those who have made the ultimate sacrifice.

While some Americans lament a fallacy that America is imperialistic because of our intervention around the world, consider that the only territory we have taken other than bases to help keep peace- are cemeteries. There are 24 American cemeteries maintained overseas with 125,000 graves of our fallen and additional memorials for 94,000 Americans who were lost at sea.

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If one were to wonder what people in towns scattered across Europe think of America, one only has to see the reverence of generations, even those who were not yet born, for the men that came and sacrificed themselves and liberated their countrymen. Americans over there are still remembered, still honored, and still cherished every year.

For those who survived and met freedom when American soldiers came, to places such as Pilsen, in the Czech Republic, it is the last place where the Allied forces’ journey across Europe ended.  You can see still, every year when they celebrate Liberation Day, the incredible honor they hold for American soldiers.

To those who question whether Americans care about injustices, one only has to ask someone who remembers the day they were liberated from Nazi Concentration camps, when grown, battle hardened American men cried. Or talk to children from African countries,  Iraq or Afghanistan who loved the American men and women who played with them, defended them, healed them and helped them to go to school for the first time.

Consider the numbers of those who have given their last full measure even hoping that others could taste freedom:

In Korea, 54,246 US troops gave their lives for people they didn’t know, in a land they’d never heard of.  90,220 US troops died in Vietnam. 266 in Beirut, 19 in Grenada, 40 in Panama, 1565 in the Persian Gulf during Desert Storm.  43 died in Somalia when troops were there for a humanitarian relief mission, over 6800 have died since the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and still our troops are sacrificing for all.

From the liberation of Europe, and of Nazi death camps, the Pacific and Asia in World War 2 to the collapse of Communism from Ronald Reagan’s, “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!” To the continuing fight from Islamic Terrorism in places such as Afghanistan still today, America has been the beacon and light of freedom. Brave people have continued to defend it for millions of others at all costs, even up to their own lives.

If people don’t think America is great, they need to look at any Gold Star parent, or someone who was able to come home because a fellow soldier gave his life so that others could live.

Most Americans are completely unaware of atrocities done in our times that others have and still endure, and that American troops have fought it all and still do to keep the fight away from our homeland.  It’s easy to lament some perceived social injustice in America by ignoring the atrocities going on in other parts of the world.  When Americans complain about petty things in America they don’t like, they don’t dare to consider the reality of millions around the world where people watch neighbors, friends and family members being dragged out of their homes, forced to flee, face death, and in many cases things worse than death. Americans really need to consider long and hard about what America and our world would be like if we didn’t have the men and women willing to sacrifice so much because they believed freedom was and is worth it.

It’s convenient to find so much blame and carry on the narrative that there is nothing good or great about America. I have to ask them however, what goodness have they contributed or what have they done to make it better?

It’s understandable that so many Americans take material things and peace for granted because they’ve never had to worry about the alternative. While they choose to celebrate Memorial Day by going to sales, ball games and parties, they don’t consider they can do these things only because of the sacrifice of good Americans. In this land of plenty, people find reason to complain, but they really need to consider that Freedom don’t come free.

Open your hearts and eyes and look around.

On Memorial Day especially, we can find those who returned from hell of war, who remember those who did not, and we can see the goodness which continues in them, which has helped America to be great. Please honor them by remembering those who never came home, and who never got to experience growing old in freedom the way we do.

God Bless our troops and Veterans and thank you all for my freedom.

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