A look at Duty

On the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month of the year 1918, the German Empire officially made peace, ending World War I. Since then, we have used the day November 11th to celebrate American veterans who served their country and did their duty. These men and women are and always will be heroes of this country and I want to take this opportunity to express my thanks for the thousands who have donned a uniform in defense of justice and of freedom.

What amazes me about these individuals is how they; at an age not much greater than, equal to, or even less than my own; were able to do and survive all the amazing and horrifying things that come with the taking of human lives. The idea of "doing ones duty" seems simple enough, but were I in the situation of the soldiers from the Greatest Generation, waiting to storm the beaches or in the War to end all Wars going over the trenches or even in the War to save the Union being ordered over the river in Fredericksberg knowing I was going to die, I cannot fathom the courage and resilience of those who fought and died in those places.
After all, here I am, a sophomore in college, being asked what I feel is a difficult question: what will I do for a career; what will I do with my future? How could I possibly cope with the notion of being asked to serve and possibly die for my country, a situation where I don't even know if I have a future to think about?
So, for all of the veterans, mothers and fathers of veterans, children and grandchildren of veterans, friends of veterans and anyone else effected by the brutality of war, I commend you for sacrificing what I think I would not, and doing what I know I could not. Today for me, is not merely a day of heartfelt and sincere remembrances, but of profound awe and humility.