The Price Of Freedom — By John Reed

The Price Of Freedom
Such a hackneyed clichè conjures up 1940’s wartime propaganda. In these modern enlightened times, fewer and fewer seem to understand this phrase remains as important, if not more so, today.
Last weekend I attended a sporting event in a neighboring county to support a grandchild. This particular county has gone all out for their recreation facilities: we were at baseball field #15 (out of 20), flanked by at least eight soccer fields (two with artificial turf), about two dozen tennis courts, as well as an indoor facility for cheer and other activities.
There were probably 500 kids involved in various events, supported by at least three times that many adults. Nothing more apple pie and traditionally American. And in the distance: the thunder of artillery practice from neighboring Fort Stewart.
Nothing pisses off the extremists and terrorists like a country that has enough prosperity and freedom that its children can not only go to school a full twelve years, but have the leisure to spend a few hours a week playing games as well. As long as that’s the case, we need a competent military to defend those freedoms.
There will always be those who point to historical arrogance and mistakes with our foreign policy. World War Two was probably the last conflict where there was a clean difference between the right side and the wrong side. Even then, the Soviet union flipped from being an enemy to an ally to an enemy again.
Modern warfare will always contain gray areas: traditional national boundaries don’t seem to matter much. The bad actors are harder to see, even harder to contain… but it would be folly to think that if we ignore them, they will just go away and leave us alone.
As I sat there listening to distant cannonades echoing with the crack of baseball bats, I realized some of these children will soon enough be in uniform themselves. And yes, some of them will pay the price for ensuring the freedom of the next generation.