"I Would Hammer Out Freedom"

"Posterity, you will never know how much it cost the present generation to preserve your freedom. I hope you will make good use of it. If you do not, I shall repent in heaven that ever I took half the pains to preserve it."

     ...John Adams

Enzo yawned, removed his glasses and leaned back in chair. He carefully closed the book he was reading about American history. With heavy eyes he dropped into a deep sleep...when suddenly he awoke to the sound of the cry The British Are Coming! Enzo jumped up knocking his three cornered hat over his eyes which hid the sight of an incoming musket volley.  He looked at one of his comrades and whispered what year is this? 1775 he replied and handed Enzo a musket and black powder.  Don't shoot until you see the whites of their eyes said the solider who was dressed in tattered clothes and rags for shoes. The battle raged in hito the night as Enzo drifted into another deep sleep.  He awoke this time in the farm yard of Wilmer McLean's farm on July 21, 1861 at the First Battle of Bull Run. Lots of shots were fired and Enzo looked at his tattered blue uniform. He thought to himself he was lucky he had boots. Many of the soldiers in gray didn't. He also saw young children with drums dressed in tiny tattered uniforms in the middle of the battle. Enzo's instincts made him want to protect the children but the battle raged on. Enzo continued his journey in time to end up standing in the rose garden of General Robert E. Lee while a tall man wearing a stove pipe hat spoke of hallowed ground and that we would not perish from the face of this earth. His next stop was Appomattox where General Lee surrendered to General Grant on April 9, 1865 in Wilmer McLean's parlor. What a journey thought Enzo but his time travel was not over. He awoke again and it was May of 1915 in a place called Flanders Field. He stood in silence as he saw the beautiful red poppies blooming in amongst the fallen soldiers. The price of freedom was becoming very real to Enzo but his journey continued to a place in the middle of the Pacific Ocean called Pearl Harbor. He watched in horror as the Japanese planes flew over he covered his eyes because he simply could not witness the sight unfolding in front of him. After a brief nap he awoke to the cold Korean weather helping his fellow comrades patrol the borders as they tried to prevent the division of Korea into two separate countries. Enzo wondered why humans liked to build walls. To him it seemed ominous and unfriendly. What if you needed to borrow a cup of sugar from your neighbor he thought? No one seemed to let people climb over the walls. That's not very neighborly. Deep in thought he suddenly realized he was deep in the jungle of a place formerly known as French Indo China now Viet Nam. The year was 1965 and he knew he was scared. There were big snakes and tigers as well as people shooting at you. He wondered what are we fighting for? But it was all about freedom for all even for people far away that spoke in a language he didn't understand. Finally there was peace for several decades he thought. Then came 9/11, Iraq and Afghanistan. It made his head spin and he longed for his own bed with the peace and tranquility of the mountain. These men and women that gave their lives for us are heroes and suddenly Enzo got the answer he had been searching for the price for freedom was not free. There were many sacrifices for the freedoms we enjoy today. Enzo turned and placed a flower upon an unmarked grave and stood in silence this Memorial Day. 
May you have safe and peaceful holiday as we remember those that gave their all for us.  
Golden Kisses, Enzo