and Honoring Those 

  ~Who Paid the Price for our Freedom

Every morning (as many of you know) I send you a heartfelt message via the OwyheeStar Weimaraners Facebook Page. Then, I post a blog. Today, I am using those remarks here in what I hope honors those who paid the ultimate sacrifice. Nonetheless, we cannot be too serious, right? One of the gifts of freedom is to have fun and to enjoy life. Therefore we share Stackhouse with the 30-40 Krag

(the same model carried by Teddy Roosevelt up San Juan Hill in Cuba).

Today’s Facebook Greeting —

Good Morning Weimlovers!

It is Memorial Day 2018. Here are a few thoughts about what it means from my perspective. What does that mean to you? I think much of America is busy with activities (bought by those who paid the ultimate sacrifice). Many give no thought to the cost of freedom. Others have no clue as to what I speak. Some matters of the heart cannot be transferred from one generation to another. It is a sad truth.

The baby boom generation grew up with parents who wanted to make sure we never experienced the things that were their reality. Our parents were older than many. They lived through the depression. My mother got a job at 13 working for a taxi cab company as a dispatcher. She earned a dime that went toward the families food. My father went to work on a ranch during the summer at eight years old. Food was scarce. All of this and then on the cusp of their adult life, they were meant with WWII. At first, it was the news of what was happening. I am positive everyone hoped to avoid US involvement.

WWII began Sept. 11, 1939. My mother was 19 and my father 21. Can you imagine? They were not alone in wondering what would become. For the next six years, the war raged on taking its toll on the world wreaking havoc on every level worldwide. No one was immune. On December 7, 1941, the Imperial Japanese Navy launched a surprise attack on the United States, bombing warships as well as other military targets in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Everything changed for America. They no longer could stay out of the fray.

We know the history. Very few of us lived through it. I believe there are a few who were called to service or were already in service at the time of Pearl Harbor. Not many of this generation are still with us. The passing of what has been called the Greatest Generation cannot be summed up in a few words. What they gave us cost them dearly. Some lost their lives, their loved one, or came home changed in ways unspeakable. Even the Baby Boomers fail to understand the atmosphere and all that changed as this war lingered. The trenches, the stench, the conflicts of every kind. The lack of news and the wondering on the homefront. The notifications. The war camps–those who survived in the more horrible of situations. Some who (others felt) were better off not live on). We probably studied the history. We see it recreated in movies. Can I say, we only understand a glimmer of what happened to this generation that gave us today’s world? Complain about how things are if you wish–but not to me. We are beyond fortunate. We as a nation cannot afford to forget the sacrifices of this generation as well as those who fought for freedom before and after them.

A different kind of war plagued our generation. One that could not be won and saw us fleeing while the enemy overrun our embassy. Our soldiers returned to something other than welcome home solder. They were the target of the war’s disapproval. They fielded verbal abuse–they were spat on and assaulted for their service. It was shameful. The Vietnam War was controversial and costly on every level. We still struggle with the unwarranted loss of life because of the way things ended. So many of our generation were snuffed out — their chance at a life lost, and we ask for what? Nonetheless, we cannot change what happened. History is written. We can; however, make sure we honor those who served regardless of what we feel about this unpopular war.

(I believe) We are never going to escape the reality of war. It will always be brewing somewhere–a place far from our home is what we hope. Even so, the media bombards us with the reality of what is happening. Somewhere someone is caught up in a life-threatening conflict. American soldiers are often there to lend a hand–maybe it is not always as we feel it should happen. Lives are lost– perhaps American loss is not appreciated by who benefit. Maybe all the war-related incidents that take innocent lives taint the laying down of American lives. There are mistakes and things beyond my understanding. Nonetheless, I think we ought not to blame the American Soldier in most of these cases. If he is following orders, then we have to hope it is a noble cause. Most of these conflicts are beyond my understanding (and not something I can embrace). Wrapping my brain around the current events even though I am living in the present eludes me.

(To sum up what I am trying to relate here) Let’s honor the soldier and remember those who lost their lives to give us the opportunities afforded. It is called the ultimate sacrifice for a reason. God Bless, and join me is saying to the generations who made this life possible, “Thank you, for your service, and the sacrifices made.”