Gift of 16 million strangers cultivates next generation of patriotism

  • Published
  • By 1st Lt. Jennifer Moore
  • 14th Flying Training Wing
COLUMBUS AFB, Miss. (AFPN) --  As another holiday approaches and we get ready to take another welcomed day away from work, will you actually pause to consider the meaning behind the observance?

For me, Veterans Day is about recognizing that freedom is a gift bestowed upon my generation half a century ago by 16 million strangers. In fact, from a personal standpoint, the irony is particularly poignant: I’m afforded the luxury of choosing to serve as an Air Force officer primarily because my grandfather’s generation had no choice.

The unadulterated bravery of men like my 83-year-old grandfather, and others of his era, is best captured in his rationale for military service: “Jenny, we served because our country needed us.”

My grandfather’s simple pronouncement is the foundation for every freedom I’ve enjoyed growing up as an American.

And while “greatest generation” biographers often note that most WWII veterans wouldn’t trade their military experience for the world, it is also true that most, including my grandfather, were plucked from civilian life without much warning and charged with safeguarding an uncertain future.

During the WWII Memorial dedication on May 29 in Washington, D.C., President Bush recalled their sacrifice. He noted that an entire generation “gave the best years of their lives to the greatest mission their country ever accepted.” College educations, budding careers, new relationships were all put on hold for a greater purpose.

I, on the other hand, wasn’t blindsided by a duty to serve. In fact, I evaluated a horizon full of options, weighed benefits against sacrifices, and decided to join the military only after sound deliberation. I could have just as easily chosen a career somewhere on the opposite end of the professional spectrum. The simple fact that my grandfather’s generation simultaneously secured both my free will to select a military career, and a stranger’s free will to protest the military, is the quintessential beauty of American freedom.

While my grandfather had no way of knowing that his first-born grandchild would one day follow in his footsteps, his courageousness half a century ago cemented its possibility. When he pinned on my second lieutenant bars two and a half years ago, I realized my debt of gratitude was matched only by his pride and confirmation that my freedom was worth any sacrifice.

Few moments in my fledgling career drive this point home more powerfully than when a stranger stops me while I’m downtown in uniform, and says, “Thank you, young lady, for what you do.”

However, it’s actually not the stranger’s words alone that move me. It’s the fact that in turn, I’m humbled to reflect on my grandfather’s generation and the strangers who secured my freedom without expecting any thanks in return. It’s through their sacrifice that I may elect a profession preserving freedom for generations to come.