Sunday, June 05, 2005
Brian Shul the Speaker - Veteran's Day Address
Brian Shul the Speaker - Veteran's Day Address: "This place we love, that we call America, is not just a place, it is an idea. An idea manifested in its people, a very diverse people. I heard a college student on TV the other day say that if a mandatory draft was imposed, he would head for Canada, as he had already mapped out his career, and serving in the military was just not in his plans.
Not in his plans... I wonder if the young boys on the beaches at Normandy had other plans, as their dead bodies washed ashore in a sea of red. I'm sure the young men who found themselves in the jungles of Viet Nam, watching their buddies die in an unnamed rice patty fighting an unseen enemy had other plans. I guess those men and women surprised at Pearl Harbor one morning had all their plans rearranged in ways they could never have imagined. The people at the World Trade Center have no more plans.
But in this diversity, also comes our strength as a nation. All may speak, and the will of the majority will be heard. Though we may disagree, we are all Americans and live under the same flag. That beautiful flag that has become such a symbol of freedom to the world. For those who have fought on foreign soil, they understand better than most the importance of this flag, and the strength derived from its presence."
Not in his plans... I wonder if the young boys on the beaches at Normandy had other plans, as their dead bodies washed ashore in a sea of red. I'm sure the young men who found themselves in the jungles of Viet Nam, watching their buddies die in an unnamed rice patty fighting an unseen enemy had other plans. I guess those men and women surprised at Pearl Harbor one morning had all their plans rearranged in ways they could never have imagined. The people at the World Trade Center have no more plans.
But in this diversity, also comes our strength as a nation. All may speak, and the will of the majority will be heard. Though we may disagree, we are all Americans and live under the same flag. That beautiful flag that has become such a symbol of freedom to the world. For those who have fought on foreign soil, they understand better than most the importance of this flag, and the strength derived from its presence."
