Red is for the blood and tears that we all have from time to time; white is for all the scary times throughout our lives; blue is for the hope that binds ourselves and others together. All of these things have gone through the minds of our soldiers, veterans, and their families.

The freedom veterans grant us allows us to go on with our everyday lives without worry of being invaded or attacked. Most of the time we don’t even notice what others have done to let us go on with our day-to-day activities, such as visiting friends’ homes, getting an education, and to look up into the stars on a chilly night wondering what else is really out there. It is truly amazing that it is possible for me to attend a charter school with faster paced learning. That is freedom. I even have the opportunity to attend Academic Challenge Math, an advanced math program at a local community college. That is freedom. Driving around the local state park and looking at the meteor shower with my dad trying to find stray shooting stars. That is freedom. The freedom to laugh, the freedom to make mistakes. Truly, what freedom means to me is that I can happily enjoy the world in peace and comfort anywhere I please.

As Theodore Roosevelt once said, “Patriotism is to stand by the country. It does not mean to stand by the president or any other public official.” And that is exactly what our fellow soldiers past and present are doing. Like my grandfathers who served in the Navy during World War II as a Naval Signalman and Naval Air Navigator, they returned home safely as the war was won and continued their humble lives with greatness. Every one of our soldiers are standing up for their country to protect their families and homes not just because some crazy politician said they had to. We truly thank all of you, those who have served and those who will for making sure our lives are the best. Like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech was a fight for racial equality to make their lives the best. All of our veterans past, present, and future have awarded us the one thing not many people have in this world: our freedom.