Remembering our Veterans

by Gary Toebben

Today we commemorate the millions of men and women who have risked their lives fighting for the United States of America. 

As we emphasize today, freedom is not free. It demands vigilance and commitment from all of us and sacrifice by those who personally serve in our armed forces. 

Thank you to the men and women who are serving in our armed forces today. And thank you to the men and women who have served, risked their lives and in many cases given their lives to maintain our freedom and the rights of others around the globe to be free.

The world took time this past weekend to celebrate the fall of the Berlin Wall 25 years ago.  For 28 years, the Berlin Wall was a physical reminder of the separation between freedom and tyranny. For nearly three decades, efforts to escape East Berlin by scaling the Wall made the nightly news and the morning headlines with an estimated 5,000 attempts and as many as 200 persons dying in their quest to reach freedom. 

I was in Berlin in 1990, several months after the opening of Check Point Charlie. Like many locals and visitors, I used a hammer to bring home chunks of the wall and the barbed wire that was embedded in it. 

I was 13 when the Berlin Wall went up and 41 when it came down.  I cannot claim any credit for bringing the Wall down, but Veterans we honor today can. Their service is an overwhelming statement that free men and women will not give up the hope to be free for their children nor for the children of others.   

Thank you to the Veterans of the United States of America.  Without you, tyrants like Hitler and Stalin would rule the world. 

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