Today is National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day. Just before 8 AM on December 7, 1941, Japanese fighter planes attacked the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. While the attack lasted only about two hours the devastation was astounding: nearly 20 naval vessels, including eight battleships, destroyed, over 2,000 American soldiers and sailors killed, over 1,000 more wounded. More than two years after the conflict had started, we entered World War II.
We have seen the results of countless skirmishes and wars in our time. We have been drawn into the majority of them and have entered others to protect our freedoms, or the freedoms of others. I think we often think that what we have, the freedoms we enjoy, are just by chance - they are not. GOD has certainly blessed us with great freedom, and that freedom is protected and ensured by the sacrifices and achievements of brave men and women the world over.
Today's word is a quote from former President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who was in office during the attack on Pearl Harbor and petitioned Congress to enter World War II in order to protect our American freedoms. Today's word is FDR's quote about freedom, which reads, "In the truest sense, freedom cannot be bestowed; it must be achieved."
While we enjoy the freedoms this great country affords us daily, we should remember that we enjoy them because others have been willing to ensure them. While it may seem that these freedoms have been bestowed upon us, that we were just blessed enough to be born into it (and, GOD has certainly blessed us with freedom), again, we remember that it is because others have fought to achieve the freedom that we enjoy.
So, today, as I remember those that fought so hard and sacrificed so much to ensure the freedoms that we have, and those that continue to fight to protect them, I say, "Thank You!" May I never forget that the blessing of freedom is enjoyed only because others fight to achieve it.
Be Blessed,
Mickey T
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