“People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf,” opined a 1993 Washington Times essay by Richard Grenier, conveying his interpretation of an opinion expressed by George Orwell,

Every night as you sleep soundly, every day as you walk calmly enjoying your world, every time you feel safe … remember those who put on a uniform and accepted the responsibility of standing ready. Remember those who held a rifle while turning a wrench. Who held a pistol while driving a truck. Who slept in the steel of a moving tank and wondered if they were going to take a nap for a few minutes or forever. To those who fuel the jets and those who fly them. Those who spend months in a submarine not knowing where they are. For those who saw nightmares, lived nightmares, have nightmares. To those who prayed they would never have to see violence and yet prepared for it so fully that they now are scarred from battles they never got to see. That man or woman who seems to be looking a thousand yards away when you see them sitting and thinking. To my friends who are home safe and still fighting, the ones who are far away and still fighting, the ones who are done fighting and now rest. Thank you.

Sleep peacefully in your beds, that is why they fight and fought. Salute them through your actions so that their sacrifices are meaningful. Remember that once a year is Veterans Day, but that every day there are veterans.

Amos Herrera

Skowhegan


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