Why I March

Every year I dig out my uniform, iron it, and shine my boots.  Hurry down to the Parade field and form up with other Vets. We step out and march down Main St. The flags wave, the band plays and people line the street. Waving, saluting and clapping. Do I march for the claps, for the "thank you for your service", for the chance to get my picture in the news paper. No! I march for a different reason.

Sadly the Patriotic vien that ran throughout this counrty is dwendeling. Parades that would once over take a town filled with men and women proud to live in the USA have shrunk. What saddens me is a spares parade and how less and less people come out to see them. People forgetting what the 4th of July really is about. It's remembering the fight.

I remember the day I got my uniform and put it on for the first time. I called my mom and said I felt a foot taller. I was proud to wear that uniform and to be serving my country. I spent close to ten years in the Army and even thou I am no long attached to a unit with an active millitary status, I know I'm not done. I continue to serve in this small way. Not leaving the marching to the older generation, but to following in their footsteps. Hoping the site of soldiers in a parade reminds people that freedom came with a cost and the the 4th was not peace, love, and "whatever", but a battle that needed to be fought. Freedom always comes at a price and we can never forget that. 

So the next time a parade goes by think about what those people in the front are trying to do. Reminding us that the battle was fought, won, and still goes on. Freedom is never free!