Published: April 11, 2008 05:46 pm            

DAY: Freedom is not free

The human cost of war, however, now is getting expensive

I remember when we had wars, and we had peace. I am not an authority of the actual events of those wars, but I am expressing my thoughts as they pertain to why we engaged in the wars of my time. Those wars were World War II and the Korean Conflict, and then in later years we had our involvement in Vietnam. Before that, there was WWI.

We went into WWI because our world was in danger of destruction as a free world, with those who wanted power over everyone. That war was supposed to end all wars, but as time goes by the presence of dictators and power-hungry men grows, and the idea of taking over the world has grown and more heads of countries have felt that it was time to once again emerge from the gates of Hades and spread fear.

Many good soldiers died in that war, but victory over the power-hungry roaches of Hades prevailed, and throughout the world, people started to put their lives back together and attempt to live in peace. However, deep down a force of one of the worst servers of Hades in the form of Hitler had thoughts of a nation filled with hate of all those who didn’t believe his way and the things that his forces did to good people of faith will never be forgotten. In addition, the families of those killed in Pearl Harbor will never forget the way that Japan brought America into the battle.

I remember listening to our radio when President Roosevelt came on and told everyone that we were at war. Being a young child, I didn’t know the impact of such a statement until I grew up and I saw that we still are trying to stay a free nation under God, but the roaches still lurk in the confines of their deep holes, waiting to reach out and grab that freedom away from us.

We went into the Korean War to try to keep that country from falling to communism with the North fighting the South. To this day, there is still that fear that once again the ugly head of communism will spring up and take its toil on the freedom of the South. In Vietnam, we went in for the same purpose, but the results are the same as the threat is still there waiting. We go into the fields of Afghanistan and Iraq, and we try to save those who really don’t want us there, and we pay with the killings of our brave men and women who are serving as soldiers in a land of hatred of the American people.

Many will conclude from this column that I have hate in my heart for those who would promote wars in order to give them more power over the freedoms of others. But hate is a terrible word to use, as it is disgust that lies within my mind for all those who would sacrifice the lives of others in order to promote their agenda of power and oppression.

We need to bring our soldiers home as soon as we can and place them all along our borders and let the world know that we will not go down without a fight. You protect what is yours and you protect your loved ones from harm.

Take this from a man who is proud of our armed forces and being an American. Losing face in a war that can’t be won isn’t a bad thing, but continuing to lose our sons and daughters while trying to decide whether to stay or come home is a bad thing.

Coming home to protect our homeland and our loved ones should be a priority now and not later. As a proud American, let us support our troops here in the land of the free and home of the brave. Let’s bring them home and support them and their families. Freedom is not free, but the cost of it now is getting out of hand. Those who have died and those still serving, I salute you and your family, and I thank you.

Ray “Uncle Ray” Day of Kokomo is a weekly contributor to the Kokomo Tribune. He can be reached by e-mail at uncleray@skyenet.net.

        

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