I'll never forget the first time I saw the 1998 blockbuster, "Saving Private Ryan." It's a brutal look at what men and women sacrificed to win World War II. While a special unit searches for Ryan, a U.S. soldier who's won a ticket home because all his brothers have died in combat, they battle enemy combatants, difficult terrain and other hardships. Finally, Captain Miller secures Ryan only to be hit by enemy fire. As he lay dying, he whispers to Ryan, "Earn this."
Now, almost 30 years later after that film came out and with World War II—and the 407,316 U.S. military casualties who died in that war a distant memory—I have wondered a lot about what it means to "earn this." What does it mean to earn the ultimate sacrifice one man gave to another so he could grow up, grow old and die an old man in relative peace? "Saving Private Ryan" is a fictional story, but the idea that we all have a significant debt to pay the soldiers who died for our freedoms is exactly what Memorial Day is about.
Memorial Day in America isn't just the start of the barbecue season or when the pool opens. It is a chance for us to honor the men and women who sacrificed themselves so the rest of us could live freely. Without the men and women who died during World War II, for example, Americans today might be living a very different life. But our servicemembers didn't just free us from Nazism or the threat of tyranny with their sacrifice, their sacrifices also preserved many of our other freedoms.
There is no other country like America: our First and Second Amendments, to name a few, secure vital, unique provisions that millions of others around the world would love to have. The right to speak and worship freely, without government mandate or interference, is extraordinary. Religious liberty is the bedrock of this country, first pioneered via the Pilgrims. But it would not have remained a steady concept, codified into laws, without the sacrifices of our servicemembers. Religious liberty is among the first things power-hungry tyrants strip when occupying another land or people.
Same with the freedom of the press and the right to bear arms. These are both unique provisions that rulers target and remove during conquest, war and occupation. This was especially true during Adolf Hitler's quest to rule Europe—during World War II—he systematically removed the very things that would help free-thinking people to fight back.
The totality of Hitler's potential, brutal rule is also one of the many reasons why World War II was such a significant conflict: the stark contrast between Hitler's fascist worldview and the Allies' embrace of liberty was so obvious, Western ideals had to be preserved at all costs—and thousands made the ultimate sacrifice.
But it's been over 80 years since WWII ended. The enemies America has now are perhaps not as stark, though they do exist. More Americans seem to value our freedoms less; patriotism has also declined. The passage of time away from that black and white period of American history has dulled the appreciation for what it took to preserve the freedoms we still take for granted every day. This is unfortunate and if Americans are not careful and vigilant, this will change.
There are still threats to the American way of life and the freedoms we love today. Whether from abroad or within, plenty of anti-Western, anti-American leaders would love to see America topple, bit by bit or all at once. This is why the fight for our freedoms—in small and big ways—preserved through the men and women who stand on the front lines for us, is still vital.
I am tremendously grateful for our servicemembers. Only they are the ones who truly put their lives on the line for our freedom, but I don't think they are the only ones who should try to "earn it" every day. The rest of us can and should participate in this preservation.
We can do this by standing up for the American way of life—boosting free markets, protecting liberty, encouraging individual responsibility and more—in all of our walks of life, from church and school to work and community. If the things America stands for crumble, there are no freedoms left worth preserving—and any sacrifices past, present and future would be in vain.
For our children's children and for the memory of those who went before us, we cannot let that happen. We must earn this way of life every day. Thank you to our servicemembers, men and women, who remain on the front lines so we can.
