Imagine sitting on a bench on a beautiful sunny day in the middle of a park. You can feel the warm sunlight as it graces your skin with its presence between the puffy clouds that pass. As you sit, you see an old couple walking hand in hand pass by. A family sits having a picnic over in the freshly cut green grass. Some kids play catch in another area enjoying America’s pastime. This is a beautiful scene of a wonderful day full of freedoms.

Now imagine this. Looking for any sort of shelter you can find, you dive into a mortar shell hole to escape the carnage. As you enter the hole, you realize you are not the only one present in the trench. Your buddy from training is in the hole with you except his legs are missing, having been blown off by a mortar shell. He does not appear to be breathing so you check his pulse. It's there but barely. All around you there are men dying agonizing deaths, you don’t want your friend to be another. Risking a glance out of your hole you spot a Corpsman. You call the medic to you with all the voice you have left in your worn out body. By some miracle, he hears you through the gunfire. He finishes attending the soldier whose arm was blown off and attempts to make it to you, but just as he nears you a bullet pierces his chest. The doctor has now become the patient.

This scene was a common scenario for World War Ⅱ soldiers. The men that make up our generation's’ grandparents and great grandparents went through that hell. Our fathers, brothers, sisters, mothers, uncles, aunts, cousins, friends and any other individuals serving in our military today go through or have gone through equally tremendous ordeals. These people deserve our utmost respect and gratitude. Why then do we not always give it?

One of our nation's most concerning problems in our youth is taking things for granted. You see it every day in how people carry themselves. In how they treat one another and how they treat the things they are given. You can see it in some people’s work ethic as well. They believe that everything should just be given to them. Now do not get me wrong I know many many young people that do not fall under this. They are hardworking and respectable people. However, the rate at which people do not always appreciate what they have is alarming. What alarms me the most about this is the fact that men and women have died to provide us with these freedoms. The least we can do is pay them our respects.

Often times, I see young people mistreating their liberties. Whether it be vandalizing a building or other property. To misusing the chance to work for a living. I see in classroom discussions about our history, about our men and women who served, people falling asleep because it's “Just history, it doesn’t matter anymore.” This is not true.

The men and women, both past and present, have laid down their lives for us to have the things we do. They are willing to die for someone they do not even know! Just think about that for a second. They would die for you. YOU. That fact alone warrants respect and gratitude.

No one can fully understand what a soldier coming back from service goes through or has seen. We can not comprehend the amount of courage it takes to run towards the bullets, to be able to lay down your life for another. All so that we can sit in the park and enjoy the sunshine. So next time you see a serviceman or woman, I encourage you to pause and appreciate what they do for you. Maybe even invite them to enjoy the sunshine with you.