This Veteran's Day, GotD Says "Thank You"
You served so we didn't have to. And we know you would do it again.
As the saying goes, freedom isn't actually free. Someone has to pay for it. And on Veteran's Day, we thank those brave Americans who paid with their marriages, their families, their stress levels, and their mental health; we look in humbled silence - because what words could ever be enough? - yet with gratitude to those who paid for America's freedom with their lives.
Here I'd like to give a personal “thank-you” to GotD writer, Tom Cosentino, and Art Director, Mike Kilgore, for their dedicated service in our country’s military. If it weren't for the bravery of these gentlemen and millions of others like them, for the whole history of this country, we might well not be here.
I'm a Quaker, so it's always tough for me to write about appreciation for military service. Quakers are pacifists, and we've historically been conscientious objectors in military conflicts. But we have the privilege to do that because others are, in fact, willing to put it all on the line. And I can't properly express how awed I am at that fact: “grateful" just doesn't cut it.
I've been thinking a lot about my own pacifism in light of the Israel-Hamas war. I know that if pacifists were the decision-makers, foreign policy would amount to rolling over for anyone who cares to attack or invade. And though I wouldn't want to actually be the one doing the fighting, I've come to the difficult conclusions that war is sometimes inevitable, and that self-defense is crucial.
So this Veteran's Day, as we celebrate the incredible bravery and valor of our United States Armed Forces, let's also send our support to the Israel Defense Forces. It's a little different in Israel, and not just because that country is at war with the brazen and deadly terrorist group, Hamas.
In Israel, nearly every citizen serves, male and female. Active-duty and reserve members are in the fight of their lives right now, and they deserve to defend Israel just as voraciously as we defend America and what we stand for.
May God bless those who are willing to do so. If God helps those who helps themselves, we can be sure that He is there, guiding good Americans, Israelis, and threatened people's the world over toward a better and brighter future.
Thank you, veterans, for leading the charge.
