Freedom isn’t Free

I must have been about seven or eight years old that holiday season. We were gathered around the dining room table with family and friends when my Dad asked everyone to bow their heads. I remember thinking how odd that was as my Dad was not a religious man. Then he began to pray for my brother, stationed in Vietnam. There had been an increasing concern, as we had not heard from him in some time. It was one of the few times I ever recall seeing my Dad pray. It was one of the few times I ever recall seeing him cry.
Like a petition answered from above the phone rang about 3 AM the next morning. The sound of the phone woke me and for some reason I remember seeing the time on an old clock on the wall in our living room. Then I heard my mother crying not tears of sadness but joy. My brother was stateside in San Francisco and on his way home.
Years have passed since then and only on rare occasions have my brother and I ever spoken of his tour in that country. I do know from several stories he told me that his life was spared when certain death should have been the outcome. There almost seems to be a tinge of guilt in his voice that for some reason he came home while others gave the ultimate sacrifice.
Today we are reminded that over 1000 troops have given their lives for the liberation of Iraq. Many others will come home with forever imbedded emotional scars of what they saw and experienced over there. As my brother is in recollection about Vietnam and my Dad was about Korea they probably will not want to talk about what they faced over there.
The price the fallen and the survivors of the Iraq war and every other previous conflict our troops have engaged in can never be understood by the average citizen. I have never served in the military. I have never taken a weapon and stood a post. But as I get older and more and more see the future through my daughter’s eyes, I am thankful now more than ever for our veterans and armed forces.
I also think of my Dad praying for my brother and when I look at my own child I think of the parent’s who prayed for their sons and daughters to come home safely but did not have their prayer answered in the affirmative. No, freedom is not free.
Today there are forces, both foreign and domestic, that would limit or take away entirely our freedoms. If we do not bear in mind that from Bunker Hill to Baghdad there is deep and honored bloodline that runs to bring freedom to the oppressed, we will dishonor the memory of those who fought and died. Let us never forget that life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness we enjoy in our nation has come at a high price. We should also never so arrogant as to think these liberties belong only within the boundaries of the United States but to every man and woman on earth. It is our God given responsibility to support those who see the need of perpetuating liberty around the world. At the same time we can never forget that a price will have to be paid. Is it worth it? The investment in freedom is far less than the cost of complacency and the simple minded thinking that terror and oppression will go away on it’s own.

John Fisher


Editorial note: We welcome John as a contributing writer. Excellent John and a tribute to our fallen and our freedoms. We look forward to your thoughts and opinions in future submissions.