FREEDOM ISN’T FREE

 

FREEDOM ISN’T FREE

On a recent return trip from California, we visited (with David and Carolyn Cox) a cemetery in Boulder City, Nevada, it was Memorial Day weekend and rows of American flags marked where thousands of patriotic Americans were laid to rest. Continuing our trip we stayed in Richfield, Utah. Driving through their peaceful cemetery we were touched by the beauty of flowers and flags reminding us of those who had gone before.

As we get ready to celebrate America’s birthday and continue to honor those who have paid a huge price to protect the freedoms we enjoy, I thought it might be enlightening to realize the role some of our ancestors played in keeping our country free and pause to honor them.

(Quoting from the autobiography of aunt Leotha) “Some of my ancestors fought in the revolutionary war to help bring this great nation into existence. My people also fought in the war of 1812; you will remember this is the war of “the rockets red glare, the bombs bursting in air.” Francis Scott Key who wrote our national anthem is in my collateral line.  A great, great, grandfather lost his life in the terrible Civil War. My ancestors were divided on that one, but most of them fought on the confederate side, because that is where most of them lived at the time.  However, Jennie Wade was caught in the line of fire while baking bread for the UNION soldiers, the only civilian casualty of Gettysburg. A monument has been erected to her on those hallowed grounds. The horrible World Wars 1 and 2, and the Korean War were well represented by my family (brothers Al and Gene in World War 2 and Rowan in the Korean). I cannot begin to tell you what World War 2 was like and how much it affected me as a teenager and young adult. It was horrible.  I’m not talking about the sacrifices we made at home, the rationing of gas, sugar etc., the unavailability of many commodities, but of the censored letters, wondering if it would be the last, and of the constant awareness of the terrible price for our freedom so many were paying,” (MY AUTOBIOGRAPHY Leotha Wade Slagowski p.2). Our grandpa Luther McAllister served courageously in World War 1 and was awarded the purple heart. I remember my dad, Al Wade, telling us about his time in the navy during World War 2. His LST (landing ship tank) was under attack on several occasions. Years later, dad hesitated to go back to Hawaii because he remembered what it looked like after the Japanese invasion of Pearl Harbor.

Uncle Gene Wade was a paratrooper and uncle Plas Brooks walked with a limp from shrapnel in his leg from World War 2. Uncle Rowan Wade fought in the Korean war and Darleen Brooks Norman’s husband Bill was one of few who survived being surrounded by Viet Cong as they heroically took a stand to hold their position on hill 488. On the McAllister side, Uncle Ed McAllister was a navy boy and uncle Marvin McAllister preferred the army, I believe.

My list of family loved ones who proudly and heroically served our country is by no means complete. It serves only as a reminder that “Freedom Isn’t Free”, it is won at a terrible cost of blood, sacrifice and lives.

Winston Churchill once said; “A nation that forgets its past has no future”. As you move toward your future, we pray that you will never forget those in the past who made great sacrifices so that you could have a future. Churchill also said, “Fear is a reaction, courage is a decision.”  May you go forward with courage. If your present at times feels overwhelming to you, then Churchill had advice for you too.  “If you’re going through Hell, KEEP GOING!”  Keep going dear loved ones! THE BEST IS YET TO COME!!

Much Love- The Grandparent Chronicles