To the heroes . . .

My grandfather served in the navy during WWII. He landed Omaha beach even though he wasn't slotted for the landing, he was a medic so he was only carrying a .45 and his medic bag. That limited weight he carried saved his life as he jumped over the side of the landing boat he was on rushing the beach. He was one of the very few that survived out of his platoon. These are stories that he never told me, my dad did after reading his diaries. I actually only heard one story from my Grandpa before he died.

My grandfather grew up in rural Pennsylvania in the coal and slate mine areas of the west. He joined the Navy and enrolled in the pharmacy program. During that time he crossed the Atlantic ocean 4 times in a PT boat. Not the most fun of trip. So I heard about a kid that he knew from Pennsylvania. My grandfather say him as he was getting on another craft in their preparations to storm Normandy. He said that they waved to each other and my grandfather couldn't believe how much older he looked, how tired he looked and how much of a goof-off he had been in school. He went on to say that he never saw him again, he was one of those that had jumped over the side of a boat and had all his gear pull him down never to surface again.

There are so many that left their mortals lives at that and many other beaches in Europe, Africa and Asia. This was a generation that went to war because they had to because they knew that do otherwise would let tyranny and slavery march across the globe. And they did it with humility and honor. We are less because we do not know their stories, their history because it is our stories, our history. I thank all veterans this day, who's stories are told, untold or left unsaid because they laid they testimonies of Freedom on the battlefield.

We have much to learn from these heroes. We need to learn of Honor, of Courage, of Selflessness and, most of all, of Faith. We honor them when we know history. For if we do not know history we are bound to repeat the mistakes that some have laid their lives on to stop.

John D. Morris

PS. Here is a group that has found a way to mark and remember this occasion in Oklahoma: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110606/od_nm/us_oklahoma_paintball