I was fingering a map of Europe the other day, looking for the town of Foy. I knew it was liberated by Company E of the 101st Airborne at the Battle of the Bulge. Oh, the richness of so many of the stories of that great war. Both in Europe and in the Pacific. So many great books tell the story of our fathers and grandfathers serving our country throughout the world in that great conflagration.
Recently, there's been a renewed interest in America's involvement in WWII brought on by movies such as Saving Private Ryan and the series "Band of Brothers". One of the books that got quite a bit of mention was the book by Tom Brokaw entitled: "The Greatest Generation". The accolades showered on our WWII vets were well deserved but, as an army veteran myself, I was a bit upset over this title. I thought of those brave, barely fed, and underpaid young boys who braved it out at Valley Forge one cold winter so long ago. They, who froze in the Delaware river, but won a battle where the outcome determined whether we would become the United States of America! Those young men are barely even given a second thought now. The same could be said of the brave men that suffered and died in our civil war, those who served in WWI in the muddy trenches of Normandy, and what of the wonderful, young soldiers who froze while fighting and dying on the Korean Pennensula? What of the men of my generation who were sent on a search and destroy mission in Vietnam?
Now, I look at the young men and women of today. Those in high school or just graduating who grew up in these pampered times. These are the "computer game" times. These are "Ipod" times. Today, there is no draft, no pressure about getting a "high number". We have a major war going on. The War on Terror. These fine young men and women today are all volunteers. They put their lives on the line every day. They wonder if a roadside IED will take a limb from them, disfigure them for life, or even kill them. They do this because it is their duty. They are protecting us because they know it's their turn to carry the sword of freedom.
I'm an old man, but I'm so proud of these new defenders of freedom. This new generation, this greatest generation!
