Fort Snelling

BOTH of my grandparents on my maternal side are buried in Fort Snelling.

BOTH of them honorably served the United States military at different times.

BOTH of them were excellent at what they did and highly regarded by those they served with and for.

My grandfather was a radioman for the United States Navy during World War II. He was deployed to the South Pacific on at least 5 major missions.

When he became debilitated by arthritis in his 50’s my grandmother needed an income to support them and two of her eight children that were still living at home.

My grandmother was a phenomenal typist so she served as a secretary for the United States Air National Guard and served long enough to retire 5 Major Generals.

When I went to their gravesite after they were both buried, I lost it! I laid on the ground, looked up at the sky and sobbed for G-d knows how long. I wanted to be with my grandmother again. My grandfather died before I was born, but I always felt so close to him. So the grief of all of it was overheating.

You wanna talk to me about patriotism? About war? About loss and suffering? About the long term impacts of war on your entire family and community? Wanna talk to me about civic duty? Bring it!

Cause you see, we all have a civic duty. We all have to make very serious choices in order to protect our freedoms and the freedoms of those around us from tyranny. We are responsible.