If you answered yes to that, kudos. If you answered no, you might be who I'm talking about.
Because at my 4th of July parade, amidst the veterans and the flags and the marching bands, there was also a group of people shouting. "Peace! Stop the wars!"
Dear fellow citizens, obviously, we would stop the war if we could. No one wants to fight. No one wants to die. Everyone wants peace. But you can't just say you want peace and leave it at that. It's not that easy. You say you're working for peace, or marching for peace, or protesting for peace.
Yeah, well, we're fighting for peace. Because we want it that badly.
Is the American Revolution included in the "wars" you want to stop? Because the American Revolution is still going on, every day. It's what started us, and what keeps us going. And guess what gets in our way? (Ahem.)
The 4th of July is for celebrating America. Slamming our foreign and military policy, not so much.
Because, cupcake, war is a fact of life. It's a fact of existence. And if you don't think that's true, you should learn a few things about your fellow humans. It doesn't mean it's right to fight. But you know what would happen if America didn't fight? We'd be annihilated. And you'd get your peace. You'd rest in peace. If that's what you want, then go for it. But go for it somewhere else, because the rest of us are busy defending our country, whether at home, or as the soldiers you berate.
Do you have no gratitude at all? For the people who risk their lives just so you can live in a country where it's okay to bash them for it? For the people who miss their families at Christmas, the fathers who miss their children's birthdays, the mothers who worriedly wait for their son's call because they're off in a war across the sea fighting for you? Fighting for your peace?
You know what? I bet that the men with amputated limbs and the boys who watch their friends die and the people who never make it home and die in POW camp or alone in a field or a forest somewhere, I bet they want peace as much as--or more than--you do. I bet they wish they could see their families. I bet they wish they didn't have to fight. I bet they wish there was no such thing as war.
And this is why we fight.
Look out the window at the nearest American flag.
This is why we fight.
Look at your children, your parents, your friends.
This is why we fight.
Look at the beautiful, spacious skies, the amber waves of grain, the purple mountain majesties above the fruited plain.
This is why we fight.
Look in the mirror. Look around you. Now close your eyes and imagine being anything you want. Being safe. Being peaceful. Being free. And realize you are.
Realize that this is why we fight.
I could never understand the courage of a soldier.
It's something I turn over in my mind all the time. You're putting your life on the line day after day. You're watching your friends die around you. You're separated from your family, not sure if you'll even live another day to see them through a computer screen. You're working tirelessly, faithfully, day and night, through all kinds of conditions, whether it's raining water or bullets. And you're there. You're there. You're right there, in the middle of it, and you don't pee your pants or run or hide behind someone else.
You stay.
And not only do you stay, you fight.
And not only do you fight, you win.
You win a victory for us every single day. Every day, whether you live or you die, whether you fight or you fall, whether you talk to your family for the first time in weeks or go another night without them, you win a victory for us with every day that you fight, with every day that you stay, with every day that the enemy falls and with every tired step you take in the name of your country--in the name of us.
There is nothing more deserving of praise. There is nothing more deserving of recognition and honor. We never did anything for you. And you fight for us. For our safety. For our pride. For our freedom.
And I wonder how you do it, day in and day out. How you're strong enough, brave enough.
And then I realize that this is America. (thank you)
Land of the free. (thank you)
Because of the brave. (thank you)
Thank you.
To all the lost soldiers, to all on their way home, to all that still strive for peace on foreign battlefields...
America thanks you.
Happy 4th of July.
You are why we fight.
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