Freedom earned through sacrifice

  • Published
  • By Col. Mark Henkel
  • 18th Operations Group commander
KADENA AIR BASE, Japan (AFPN) --  Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children's children what it was once like in the United States where men were free. -- Ronald Reagan, 40th president of the United States

These words offer a somber notion of what our nation would look like if it were not for the men and women in uniform and a great nation of citizens that support them.

With the occasion of Veterans Day, we are afforded an opportunity to reflect with pride on the many achievements our vets have made, and with sorrow for their priceless sacrifices. 

The sacrifices of those that serve continue today ... and you have personally carried many of these burdens. 

As we commemorate Veterans Day, let us re-double our efforts to foster the next generation that will keep us safe and free. 

For more than two centuries our country has been honored with people willing to serve and sacrifice to ensure the freedoms our country was founded on. To these people we owe a great debt of gratitude. That gratitude is not just for the service they gave, but for the following generations they raised. The generations that served in World War II, Korea, Vietnam, the Persian Gulf War and now the war on terrorism. Had it not been for those follow-on generations, we would not be where we are today, blanketed by the warmth of individual freedoms that allow us to choose any walk of life. 

Your choice has been to serve. That is, no doubt, one of the noblest callings and your nation is grateful. You have accepted living far from family, long work hours, deployments and stepping into harm's way. In return for that, you are a member of a proud community; one that shares common values of honor, integrity, service before self, courage, pride and excellence in all we do. 

Those values were not passed via nature; they were a result of nurture. It requires everyone's efforts to ensure those are the values that direct our actions. We not only owe it to the younger generation that may be serving beside you today, but the next generation not yet in uniform. 

We shape the next generation by the actions we take today. It's a simple matter to teach our children pride in our country. Each time a coach stops soccer practice at 5 p.m. to pay respect to our flag and national anthem, it teaches our kids about patriotism and the pride we feel in being an American. Watching a theater of children go silent with their hands over their hearts before the beginning of a movie makes me proud. 

We owe it to our sons and daughters to teach them that our freedoms are not given to us, but earned through the sacrifices of those in uniform - the same uniform their parents are wearing today, and that they may be wearing tomorrow.