I have had a great time with my friend Petra during my trip to DC. We've eaten at amazing restaurants, gone on winery tours, visited the Shenandoah Mountains, and toured the Memorials in DC. All of my adventures would not be happening had it not been for the brave men and women who serve my country and who served my country in the past. It is beyond moving to see people at the Korean, Vietnam, WWII Memorials taking rubbings, leaving letters, posing with their loved ones as a memorial to their own families. Martin Luther King's Memorial also moved me in that it displayed how we also have had to fight within our own borders to give all people their rights. Are we there yet? No. But we have definitely come a very long way. Imagine seeing the Martin Luther King Memorial juxtaposed next to the Lincoln Memorial and next to the Roosevelt Memorial.
As I read the quotes on the memorials I realized that those words ring true today. I realized that what made my nation strong once still rings true today. I realized that after each and every war, whether on foreign soil or here at home, our nations leaders abhorred war, wanted peace, and wanted no more conflict.
Though conflicts still exist, though our nation faces so many trials, though we have no idea what tomorrow will bring, I cling to Roosevelt's words, Martin Luther King's words, the words of those who thanked us, the words our children will say tomorrow.
Freedom isn't free...
