Not Just a Buzzword
It's really war. And it's really in my lifetime. I guess I had this view of war as something that had been eradicated before I was born. Sure, there was the Gulf War, but that didn't seem real. Just missiles firing on other missiles. Then again, my little 11-year-old mind was probably pretty sheltered at that point. I thought that war was something my world had outgrown, like colic or acne.
But here we are again, once more into the fray. Our advocacy of freedom is put to the highest test. Is it worth dying for? For someone else? I suppose there lies the chasm between honor and cowardice. Do soldiers in battle even have time to contemplate the ethereal philosophy of what they defend? Or is it the one thing that is foremost on their minds--their driving force?
If we have learned anything by the history of our country, our struggles and triumphs, it is that freedom comes at a price. And that it's worth it.