Heroes Among Us

It was so touching to watch the news a month or so ago, to see 132 World War II veterans and hear their remarks following their return from Hero Flight. Their destination, the WWII Memorial in Washington DC, is a favorite of mine. At night, with lights illuminating the granite columns and gold stars, the rush of the fountains and the hushed tones in which everyone converses without even realizing, the monument takes on a reverence which is unique and unmistakable. It is a tribute befitting the heroes who fought in that war, those who returned and those who did not.

Liberty, as a concept, is sometimes hard to quantify. Thomas Jefferson said, "I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much liberty than those attending too small a degree of it." From Samuel Adams comes the charge, "The liberties of our country, the freedom of our civil Constitution, are worth defending at all hazards".