The America my dad loved

I listen to a lot of what is going on now days. A lot of people think a lot of different things about the country and how it should be run. How things should be. Maybe it should be this way, maybe that way. I like history and so I always turn to the founding fathers, and continue to rely on their wisdom.
Last night I was going through some old pictures and letters and found three letters from my dad to my Grama Lundgren during WWII. So sweet. Telling how he felt about June. It made me think alot about what the United States meant to him.
I've had this article by Elie Wiesel for a long time, because I thought it was so excellent. Thought I'd share bits and pieces of it.

He says,"Even now, as America is in the midst of puzzling uncertainty, these words reflect my personal belief. For I cannot forget another day that remains alive in my memory: April 11, 1945. That day I encountered the first American soldiers in the Buchenwald concentration camp. I remember them well. Bewildered, disbelieving, they walked around the place, hell on earth, where our destiny had been played out. They looked at us, just liberated, and did not know what to do or say. Survivors snatched from the dark throes of death, we were empty of all hope - too weak, too emaciated to hug them or even speak to them. Like lost children, the American soldiers wept and wept with rage and sadness. And we received their tears as if they were heartrending offerings from a wounded and generous humanity. Ever since that encounter, I cannot repress my emotion before the flag and the uniform."

"Hope is the key word for men and women life myself, who found in America the stength to overcome cynicism and despair."

Dad was on the other side of the world fighting a different kind of war. He was born an American citizen, and always loved this country and the ideals this great nation stood for all the days of his life. He gave up years of his life as a young man to fight in WWII. He was lonely, bored, sick and tired and he wanted to get home and get on with his life. But he knew what he was doing was life altering for that family that he wanted to have when the war was over, and for generations to come. I am grateful to him for his sacrifice and for instilling in me the love I have for this beautiful nation and all that it gives to me. May we never forget the sacrifice of these great men and women and what it was for.