Dear Soldier

Independence Day is one of my favorite holidays - probably because I'm a history buff and I love the era of the American Revolution. This year, there are some things I would like to say to the military personnel - both past and present - who have worked so hard and sacrificed so much for the freedoms I and my family enjoy.

Dear Soldier:

I realize that you have spent precious time away from your family - time that you will never regain. You live your life one day at a time, never knowing if it will be your last. I cannot begin to fathom how that changes a person.

I can't begin to understand what your days and nights are like or how you deal with the fear, the boredom, the uncertainty, the loneliness, the horrors that you see.

It seems so small and insignificant in comparison, but I want to say "thank you."

Two simple words that cannot even come close to expressing what I really mean. I sit in my air conditioned home and enjoy time with my children while you are probably sweating in the hot desert sun thinking of your loved ones and wishing that you could see them.

I sleep in on Saturdays, yet you stay alert at all times, sleeping in shifts, listening for danger. Many days meeting it head on with courage and determination.

My freedoms - the future of my children - these are things that you ensure. Things that you protect. You don't know me - but you know plenty of people like me. Simple folks who sleep in their soft beds at night with a sense of well-being because you have chosen to defend and protect that which allows my peaceful sleep.

No, "thank you" is not enough.

There is no way I could possibly find the words to say what is adequate. You are a hero - and every soldier who stands beside you is a hero with you.

So many of your predecessors have died on battlefields - both here in the United States and on foreign soil. Their blood was spilled for a principle that you understand well: That tyranny cannot be tolerated, that freedom is bought at a high and lofty price.

I pray that you never pay that price, that instead you return safely to your family. I pray that soon, your family will throw up the crepe paper, make signs on poster board, tie balloons to the mailbox and have a barbecue to celebrate your homecoming. I pray that you will dance at the weddings of your grandchildren.

Your commitment to the freedoms that I enjoy and take for granted should never be forgotten. While I can't thank you personally, and this letter is hardly sufficient, I can tell my children about you. I will tell them. I want them to grow up understanding how precious their freedom is and how easily it could be taken away - and how hard you are working to ensure that never happens.

So thank you, Soldier. You might not wear a cape, but you are a hero. And I will never forget.