Veterans Day, 2005

Thomas Jefferson said, “The price of freedom is eternal vigilance.” In 1852 Wendell Phillips recast it in the form that I most remember hearing, “Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.” Today, Veterans Day, I salute the men and women who have born the responsibility of being the spearhead of eternal vigilance. These men and women gave up property, opportunity, sometimes reputation, and sometimes life, to protect the liberty, the freedoms we cherish. There are men in my family that bore the burden for me. There are men in my church that bore the burden for me. And not for me only, but for all of us. There cannot be too many days to remember their gift to us. My Lord noted that the giving of live is the supreme expression of love and concern for another. In the wars that have punctuated the life of our nation, many have died. But, many have also lived through the fury of war. They may carry physical scars, or emotional ones. They may carry memories of fear, of loathing, of great sadness. But they bore the burden of eternal vigilance. Today, we remember, as we should every time we see an American Flag, every time we hear the National Anthem at a sports event, every time we talk to a veteran. They did it for us.