An open letter to veterans

Dear Veterans,

Whether you served in WWII, Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, or Afghanistan; thank you.

Thank you for your courage and for being a hero. Thanx for standing up and defending the policies and institutions that have made our United States the greatest nation on earth, right? Most of all, thank you for putting yourself in the line of fire so that I and my babies can go to bed every night knowing that we are safe, protected, and cared for.

I wasn’t born in the United States. I was born in Thessaloniki, Greece; and came over with my parents when I was seven years old. My mother and my father waited three years in Greece for permission for the United States government to give them permission to come over. When they got here, they waited another eight years to receive their citizenship. For eleven years, my parents raved about the United States, dig? They dreamed the American dream of prosperity, and freedom, and rights they didn’t have in Greece. Most of all, they honored the United States military because unlike Greece military enlistment isn’t mandatory. It’s voluntary, and my parents had the utmost respect for the men and women that would willingly fight and die to preserve their nation. It was that courage that inspired my dad for the rest of his life. It’s that courage that inspires me.

If I were to like be totally honest, I’m not as brave as you are. I couldn’t enlist. I’d be too terrified. I’m afraid to fight, and I’m afraid to die. But you, you are willing to take me in your arms and say it’s ok Alexandra, I’ll go fight for you and die for you if I have to. You say to me Alexandra, that’s what my nation was founded on. I’ll go fight and die so that you don’t have to.

How do you thank someone for that?

I can’t imagine the horrors you have seen. I can’t imagine the pain you must have felt for seeing your friends cut down all around you. I can’t imagine the nightmares you must have, right? You did all that, all of it, so that I and my friends, my family, and my babies can go through our lives untouched by the evil that lurks, dominates, and in some cases controls other countries. We get up, we play, we work, we eat, and we sleep without even thinking that our safety and our freedom is entirely because of your bravery and heroism, and like entirely because of your selflessness.

So to you, the defenders and protectors of freedom for everyone around the world, thank you. Thank you very much. I owe you everything. We all owe you everything.

Pax