Nov 11, 2020 2 min read

Imagine coming fresh out of high school and getting shipped out to God knows where, to a place that you probably never heard of or couldn’t locate on a map, to do things that you will want to forget.

Imagine how scary it must have been, getting shot at for the first time or the first time you saw someone die. Being a nonveteran, I can’t imagine what it must have been like, being miles from home and wondering what did my government and I get into. Our veterans and the ones currently serving stepped up and put their lives on the line to protect and defend, stop the spread of communism and stop the Taliban or Al-Qaeda while the rest of us went to work or college and enjoyed the freedoms for which they fought.

We fail to honor our veterans from the Korean War, Vietnam War, Grenada, Iraq and Afghanistan with the same high regard as we do our World War II veterans, and we should honor them as well. They all answered the call to serve. Remember, without these brave men and women who protected our country and many other countries we could have lost all of our freedoms. We would not be allowed to own a firearm, attend a church of our choice, have freedom of speech, peacefully protest, or enjoy all of the rest of our rights that our veterans have fought for.

Thank you to all of our veterans for all of your many sacrifices and for a job well done.

I really hope that we all can come together again like we did in the days following 9/11 and patriotism will be at an all-time high again.

Matt Holtkamp

Washington