Freedom's Extreme Price

BALTIMORE, May 28, 2013-On this Memorial Day, 2013 many Americans think back to the bloody battles that took so many American lives during World War II, Korea, Vietnam and the Middle East (although in the latter case, the death toll over the years pales in comparison to the first three wars I have listed).  Even as the last survivors of WWII fade into history and the inevitable march of time, our nation must ensure that their deeds never fade.  It is the sacred duty of all Americans to make sure of that; otherwise their supreme sacrifice would have been in vain. North Carolina public television made a documentary some years back that is shown annually in that part of the country.  It told the story of three men from Lenoir County, North Carolina as they enlisted and then fought their way across Europe with a division charged with routing Nazi units dug in to defend Germany from advancing Allied armies.  Eddie Hart, one of those men, fell in Holland and died shortly thereafter.  He was 22.  After the war his grave was adopted by a local Dutch woman as a way of honoring those who had freed her from the Nazis.  She kept in touch with Mr. Hart's sister, Hattie Hart Holloman, through the years.  When the Dutch woman, Betty Vrancken, died, her brother took up care for Mr. Hart's grave.  All told, the Vrancken family has cared for Mr. Hart's grave for more than 70 years.  The film concludes with the Holloman family in Holland visiting Mr. Hart's grave for the first time.  Powerful stuff.  In a nation where many abhor the military and the role it plays in keeping America free, the lack of Pride and Respect shown on Memorial Day is really very sad. It is so easy to cite incidents where an American soldier committed some evil deed, or even when a decision poorly made sent military forces abroad when they were best kept at home.  We all forget that we are human and humans are involved in anything mistakes will follow.  Our mistakes, thank God, are very few in the big scheme of things, and the good we have done is a shining example of the noble nature of free men.