Freedom is Never Free

A little over 8 years ago, a young wife sat in a hotel room crying and holding her husband tight. It was early fall in 2001, and the United States was starting to send troops to Iraq. The young couple was still in shock about what had taken place in their country a few weeks earlier, and now they were smacked in the face with the reality of it all. They tried to focus on anything else - the 9/11 tribute concert on television, the home cooked meal she had brought for them to eat on paper plates, the bleak Seattle weather - anything but what the next 48 hours might bring.

The young husband was sequestered in this bare-bones hotel room on McChord Air Force Base in Tacoma, Washington. Those in charge wanted their crew to be ready at a moment's notice, and the hotel provided them that guarantee. Just blocks from the young couple's home, the hotel was the staging area for the next troops to be called to fight in that mysterious, far-away country. Several young men and women were restricted to those desolate rooms for 2 days. 48 hours. 2,880 minutes. Minutes that would be spent thinking, dreading and praying. Waiting for the call. The call that would put their immediate futures in a whirlwind of unknown. That call would send them to war.

The young wife tried to comfort herself in each hour that passed. Each hour gone meant one hour gained with the love of her life. Her husband tried to reassure her that his role in the whole thing was small. He was not a soldier. Not a gun-carrying fighter. Not going to the front line. Not going anywhere near the front line. Likely to be thousands of miles away from the front line. Maybe a different country than the front line. All she could think was that New York City, The Pentagon, and a remote field in Pennsylvania were also in a country far from the front line.

Those 2 days spent waiting were excruciating. When they were over, when there was no more threat of the young husband going to war, the young couple felt set free from that immediate nightmare. This couple is truly fortunate.

Many people don't have that luxury. Some had none to hold them tight. Some got the call. Some bravely went to war and came home. Many gave the ultimate gift to our country - their lives. All of them, even the young husband, are tied together forever by one thing. They are all Veterans. They have all put their lives on the line to protect me, you, our families, our friends, complete strangers. We owe them more than I can express, yet they do their jobs without complaint. They are not the ones who start wars. They are the ones who selflessly obey whatever orders they are given. They are our heroes (and she-roes). We need their strength and commitment. They deserve honor and respect and recognition.

Today is just one of 365 days each year that we should thank our Veterans. It is because of them that you have the freedom to do so.

I feel so strongly about this because I was that young wife. Stewart was that young husband. And we are together and safe today because of what our Veterans have sacrificed.

"It is easy to take freedom for granted, when you have never had it taken from you." ~Author unknown