A Letter To Dead Soldiers

Dear Dead American Soldiers,

Thank you for protecting my freedoms. I especially cherish my ability to speak freely. I can say whatever I want. That doesn't happen in other countries. I can say very smart things. I can say very stupid things. I can speak words of love. I can shout words of hate. I can offend. I can inspire. People can listen to me. They don't have to listen to me. We live in a country where ideas are debated. We are not jailed for our opinions (at least not yet), no matter how right or how wrong, no matter how sensible or how ridiculous. We don't censor (well not as much as other countries). We don't stifle. Other's have protected this right, but it is you who paid the ultimate price.

To protect my freedom of speech, you no longer get to say what you think. You cannot disagree because you are no longer here. You may have had very intelligent things to discuss. You may even have had your own blog. It could have been published on the Huffington Post, maybe on Hot Air. It is not, because you are dead.

You may have agreed with me. You may have despised my words. Who knows? The point is, is that you never got the opportunity. I have because you gave your life.

Would Hitler, and then those who succeeded him have permitted me to speak freely. No, they had the Gestapo, the SS, organizations specifically chartered to imprison, torture, and execute those who said things that were not in line with the Nazi regime.

Had the Soviet Union won the Cold War, had communism spread throughout the world, would I speak my mind without ending up in a gulag, a work camp, a re-education camp? Ask someone in China, Cuba, or North Korea. No, I would not.

Your efforts, your life, prevented these powers from swallowing and consuming the freedoms, rooted in Judaeo-Christian teachings, that were realized by The Founding Fathers. I distribute my speech now because you died.

Thank you and Rest In Peace.