Where would we be?

if it weren't for our men and women in uniform? No, I'm not talking about those helpful people behind the counter serving up your delicious Happy Meal. (Although they have a role in American history, too.)

I am talking about those brave souls who stood up for the cause, answered the call and risked it all so that we can drive down the street on an early fall morning and see our flag waving in every yard.

My grandfather was one of those men. He served in the Signal Corps in the Pacific Theater in World War II. He was born here in Utah to meager means, lived through the depression as their family moved from house to house. He went to Jordan High School and then to the University of Utah for a year, because that's all he could afford. He worked at the Salt Lake Country Club in the days leading up to the war. Wanted to be a pilot but then found out he was color blind. When he was first sent to training camp they all were using World War I era equipment. They sent him on a ship halfway around the world to live in a jungle. His daughter was born while he was gone and she was 3 months old before he knew she had been born. He saw and heard things he doesn't like to talk about. And he wasn't even on the front lines. He came home and he and millions of American's built this nation on hard work and values. He knows how to struggle, he knows how to sacrifice, he knows what it means to give something your all.

Where would we be without these men? Are there people out there like that today? Is there someone who we will talk about like that in 50 years? Are we teaching our children to be that kind of person? Are we that kind of person? I would submit that I have a long way to go, and these kinds of days are here to remind me that someone has made sacrifices for me that I can't understand. Someone has given their all. What have I been asked to give?

I will change.

Thank you, Grandpa.