This Memorial Day celebrate and honor fallen heroes by pledging to "engage" in America -

Yesterday, I found out that my 92 year old grandfather was chosen to be honored with a trip to Washington DC, on a WWII Honor Flight. The organization making this happen is Honor Flight Chicago (that’s where he lives). They take WWII veterans to DC and spend the day thanking and honoring them, while visiting landmarks specially chosen for their military interests. My grandfather was in the 2nd Infantry Division of the Army. He went onto Normandy Beach on D-Day + 1, and he left France wounded with a Purple Heart, unable to return to combat, in September of 1944.  Most of us will never understand what he saw, heard, and endured for those four agonizing months – but we can and should never forget what he and countless others did for us, so we can live in a free country.

In 1996, My family and I were lucky enough to visit Normandy with him. He had been plagued with nightmares for years of the day he landed on that beach, and even a 50th year reunion trip to the site did nothing to relieve his nightly torment. When we got to the beach I was surprised that it was just a normal looking beach. In my head it was something completely different. It was really just a regular beach that on June 6, 1944 was transformed into a nightmarish hell, etched into all of our lives. As we stood looking down the beach, my grandfather took the hand of my, at the time six year old daughter, and they started walking down the beach hand in hand. It was hard to imagine that so many years before - young men, including my grandfather, had the courage to jump off a boat into a barrage of bullets and land on this beach, where I now sat watching the two of them seemingly enjoying the day. I know in 1944, as he fought his way through men intent on killing him, he never pictured himself calmly taking a walk with his great granddaughter, chasing seagulls and being asked a million questions about the ocean, the sand, and whatever else six year old little girls like to ask about. I believe there was even a request from her to build a sand castle and if swimming was included in the trip that day. But there was not time for that because we then loaded into the car and drove to Vire, France – noting the long drive and realizing the entire way that over the course of four months, my grandfather had walked, fought, slept, ate and lived here with no shelter, in harms way, in constant fear for his life and the lives of the other men who were “lucky” enough to have lived through the earlier beach massacre and ensuing battles.  

When we arrived in Vire, a small but quaint town where my grandfather had been wounded, we quickly noticed a Memorial dedicated to the American troops who helped liberate France. There were fresh flowers placed at the foot of the memorial, that we later found out are refreshed daily. (As we traveled around to some other small towns, we found memorials at each of them as well) We found a lovely corner café and toasted to the honor and bravery of my grandfather. He quickly reminded us that he was just a regular guy that had no extraordinary traits. I disagreed, but he persisted that he was no hero.  We then got a map of the town and headed to all of the cemeteries, because ironically he had been wounded in a cemetery. The minute we got to the right one, we knew it - because he had described it perfectly.  52 years later, we found the actual place he was wounded all those years before and we all gave my grandfather a hug – It was pretty emotional…  

From there, we went back to Normandy and we visited the American cemetery where we paid respects to all of my grandfather’s fallen friends and all the heroes that were never able to leave France and return home to their families. As sunset approached, Taps began to play on the loud speakers and we stood in the midst of thousands of crosses, each marking a fallen American Hero, and I understood what the true meaning of making a sacrifice for your country meant. Each of those crosses affected countless families and friends, not to mention families that would never exist now. The great news of our trip was that my grandfathers’ nightmares diminished and we got a better understanding of what he and countless others faced during WWII.      

So what does this story have to so with you pledging to engage in America today? As we toasted my grandfather’s bravery and he dismissed it – It made me realize that it was a perfect example of common men and boys doing uncommon acts of valor.  Think of the teenagers and young men you know now, they are no different than the men and boys, who so many years ago bravely walked into hell to preserve life and freedom for others. Many paid the ultimate price, others were physically wounded, others mentally, but all sacrificed something for others. Thankfully today we don’t have to do anything as horrible as jumping off a PT boat in the English Channel into a barrage of bullets to preserve freedom (although there are American troops doing this all over the World each and every day)- but we do need to get engaged with what is going on in America and the World around us.  Recently we have seen a terrorist attack on American & British soil, we have seen the HHS mandate boldly cross the  line of Church and State, our media, the AP, was spied on by our own Department of Justice and the IRS choose specific groups to target for audits and who was or was not given tax exempt status. Voting is at an all time low and people are apathetic about things that they feel don’t specifically pertain to them. Eventually, if you don’t act, something will happen that will pertain specifically to you, and by then it may be too late to make a difference.  I read this yesterday – “I used to pray for somebody to speak out, to stand up and defend our liberties,…  Then I realized I AM somebody” So, get off your couch, turn off your TV and pledge to get engaged this Memorial Day weekend. Consider it a way to say “Thank You” to all of the fallen heroes that stood up and defended our liberties, recently and in the past! Volunteer for your local WWII Honor Flight or the Wounded Warrior Project, get to know your City, District, County and State Representatives, visit the Capitol, visit the MLK Center, help register new voters,  teach English to refugees from Somalia, help feed fellow Georgians affected adversely by the economy at St. Luke’s Kitchen, join a Religious Liberty group - just find a cause you care about, a charity, or even start a group  in your community if you can’t find one that suits your needs. YOU can make a difference, no matter how “common” you feel and we all need to make sure that America continues on its path of Life, Liberty and Freedom for All………..