Considering June 6, 1944, and contemplating what it means to believe in something bigger and better

I wrote the following blogpost back on June 6, 2016. It's about an experience I had while visiting Normandy, France. While there, I got to visit an American military cemetery overlooking Omaha Beach. 

The post I wrote just four years ago meant a lot to me because it conveyed the powerful feelings I felt as I considered the Allied soldiers who fought so bravely for something far bigger than themselves. So many lost their lives on June 6, 1944, paying the ultimate sacrifice for ... us. And many of those who survived D-Day went on to help liberate Nazi concentration camps. Think about that! We, who enjoy incredible freedom even in a time of great turmoil and chaos, have the freedom to worship, work, play, speak freely, and yet, even protest, in very large part because this country's greatest generation lived and died for something than itself.

We have the freedom to believe how we want, and to not just fight for, but live for, something bigger than ourselves.  



I know we all come from differing backgrounds, with diverse experiences and points of view. In spite of its blemishes, America is beautiful. Don't listen to those who would tell you otherwise, because the very reason they can tell you otherwise is an important reason why it's beautiful. 

Please, give some consideration to what that means. Please, if you get a chance, read the following blogpost, certainly not for my benefit, but for our benefit as Americans ... all Americans. 

"Oh beautiful for heroes proved, in liberating strife 
Who more than self, their country loved, and mercy more than life." -- From "America The Beautiful" by Katharine Lee Bates

http://thegreatgameoflife.blogspot.com/2016/06/i-do-not-know-man-buried-here-pfc-frank.html