When I was in high school, I accompanied my dad on a business trip and we visited the newly constructed Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, DC. Adjacent to the National Mall, the minimalist design consists of two walls, engraved with the names of those classified as dead, missing, or still a prisoner of war.
I did not come from a military family and had no personal connection to our armed forces. However, seeing the loved ones of the Vietnam veterans at the site, leaving mementos, and tracing the names onto pieces of paper, personalized the grief and loss experienced by our veterans and their families. That visual made it real: Our liberty came at a human cost.
We all face risks every day. Those in our armed forces accept heightened risks as a way of life, knowing they put their lives on the line defending our country. Our armed forces throughout history have secured our freedom – and many of those brave men and women never came home – or returned with physical and emotional wounds that changed them, and their families, forever.
In America, our way of life affords us the luxury of not constantly having to think about the sacrifices that secure our freedom. Indeed, those of us in southeastern Pennsylvania pass by our many memorials repeatedly, probably not even thinking about our country’s hard-fought path to democracy.
We need to do better.
Travis Manion, a Doylestown native, was a United States Marine who made the ultimate sacrifice in the Iraq War when he was mortally wounded while aiding his fellow Marines. His entire patrol survived. His legacy lives on through the Travis Manion Foundation, established in his honor to “empower veterans and families of fallen heroes to develop character in future generations.”
We benefit every day from the sacrifices of our veterans and the Travis Manion Foundation allows us to give back. This Friday, March 21, Philadelphia radio station 1210 WPHT is partnering with the Travis Manion Foundation for an all-day radiothon to raise money to benefit the cause. Tune in to hear from all of the WPHT hosts, as well as many special guests – including me, who will be honoring the memory of Travis Manion and all of our brave veterans.
Reflecting on the sacrifices that secure our freedom should be a part of our everyday lives. Living in America should never be taken for granted. Surveys indicate 54.9 percent of the world’s population live under authoritarian, or partially authoritarian, regimes. We owe a debt to each and every veteran, living or dead, along with their families. But for them, we would not be free.
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