The Price of Freedom Is It Worth It
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[Applause]
hmm
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what would you say if i were to ask you
when your patriotism was born
is that a question you can answer with a
specific date on the calendar
or a memory in your mind i bet if i
asked my grandfather he would tell us
december 7th
1941 when the bombings of pearl harbor
infamously brought his generation into
world war ii
my own mother would likely have two very
vivid memories to share
november of 1963 when president john f
kennedy was assassinated
and the summer of 1969 when neil
armstrong took a giant
leap on the moon now most of my high
school and college classmates would
claim september 11
2001 as the birth date of their
patriotism
it was on that tuesday morning that most
of our college professors told us to
close our textbooks
and turn on the television to watch
history being made
me what would i say if you asked me when
my patriotism was born
i’d have to take you all the way back to
i was a ten-year-old student in john
walsh’s fifth grade class at mockingbird
elementary outside of omaha nebraska
now part of the fifth grade curriculum
is american history
american heritage the american way of
life the american dream
but what was happening in our lives at
that time
was the persian gulf war was unfolding
in the middle east
and mr walsh had a way of taking what
was in our textbook our
history lessons and combining it with
what we saw on the nightly news
for current events and teaching us what
it really meant
to hope for life liberty and happiness
what it really meant to seek liberty and
justice for all
what opportunities we really had to be
able to even know what the american
dream is
what really made those lessons hit home
for me was knowing that another 10 year
old in that class
was a young boy named abdullah
abdullah was from afghanistan abdullah
and his family had recently fled their
homeland
and the soviet army looking for a better
way of life
they were looking for life liberty
and the chance to pursue happiness they
were looking for hope and opportunity
they were looking for that american
dream now i was just a kid but i felt
something inside of me
spark and it wasn’t just the kind of
pride
in my american citizenship
it was more than that it was a sense of
gratitude for my freedom
it was awareness that those freedoms
come at a price
and it was a commitment to never take
those freedoms for granted
so how about you have you given it a
chance to decide when your patriotism
was born
what if i were to take that exact same
question and switch it up just a little
bit
and instead of asking you when your
patriotism was born
i asked you when that patriotism came to
life
now for me that’s something i can answer
to a very specific moment in time
i might have been a self-declared
patriot since i was a kid
but that declaration came under fire on
the morning of saturday
november 3rd 2018
my patriotism was put to the ultimate
test
in the very moment i was told my husband
had paid the ultimate sacrifice while
serving as an american soldier
in afghanistan to be short
my patriotism came alive the day my
husband died
in a few days it will have been 22
months
22 months since my husband major brent
taylor was killed
in action 22 months since i sat down
with two army officers in full dress
uniform
to tell my seven young children their
father would not be coming home
22 months since i joined members of my
family
my faith and my community to attend the
funeral services of my sweetheart of 15
years just
two days before our baby caroline
would celebrate her first birthday
22 months to think to grieve
to ponder and to wonder and to ask
myself the very same question
i’m about to ask each of you
is it worth it
is it worth it hundreds of thousands of
lives have been lost
in the fight for freedom since this
nation was founded
that american promise of life liberty
and the pursuit of happiness
has been preserved by the shedding of
blood for almost 250
years our country’s ongoing quest
to become a more perfect union has
always come at a very heavy price
and so i ask is it worth it
our founding fathers who signed the
declaration of independence did so with
the pledge of their lives their fortune
and their sacred honor
they planted seeds of patriotism of
independence and freedom
knowing full well we would be the ones
to sow the fruits thereof
now that’s not to say that those who
went before us did so perfectly
or that every decision they made or
every battle they fought was without
flaw
or human fallacy but
those who have gone before us have
genuinely sought
and even willingly fought to leave a
better path
in front of us
we often use the term the greatest
generation when we speak of those who
survive the honors and the horrors of
world war
ii and rightly so
but what is it that made them so great
as a generation
could it be argued that their collective
greatness was founded in their shared
payment of that price of freedom
i mean think about it nearly every
american alive at that time
was helping to pay the price of freedom
because nearly every american alive at
that time
was personally impacted by that war
either they suited up and shipped off to
the front lines themselves
or sent their son or sweetheart into
harm’s way
nearly every american alive at that time
knew someone who
died in battle at that time
world war ii affected the type of jobs
people could have the clothing they
could wear the groceries they could buy
everything was regulated and rationed to
support that war effort
every american alive at that time was
pitching in to pay the price of freedom
and to keep the american dream alive
even if it cost them their lives
so perhaps it goes without question that
we celebrate them as america’s greatest
generation but is america’s greatness
exclusive to the world war ii generation
or is it our turn is it our turn to
decide
to make it worth it the way they lived
their lives and bore their burdens the
way they fought to defend freedom and
protect peace they prayed we would
someday enjoy
is what made it worth it to them
is it now our turn to decide
and is that even possible can we really
decide whether or not their sacrifice
will be worth it
abraham lincoln thought so when
president lincoln delivered the
gettysburg address it had been
exactly four score and seven years since
the signing of the declaration of
independence
in that address he teaches us how it is
that we make it
worth it he says it is for us
the living to take upon ourselves
and carry on the unfinished work of our
honored dead
by taking upon ourselves an increased
devotion
to the cause for which they gave the
last full measure of devotion
yes the price of freedom has always been
high
but what if that price were not to be
paid
in the 22 months that have passed since
my husband was killed i have come to the
conclusion
that we best honor those who have gone
before us
by deciding to make something of
greatness and honor out of the lives
they have given
to us that
is what our founding fathers pledged to
do
that is what abraham lincoln called upon
us to do
that is what every fallen service member
from the dawn of this nation has died
for us to do that is what the very stars
and stripes in our star-spangled banner
remind us to do
and that is what america and this world
needs us to decide to do
it’s our turn to decide to make it worth
it
it’s our turn to decide to make
something of greatness and honor out of
our lives
by living on purpose and with a purpose
it’s our turn to decide to make
something of greatness and honor out of
our lives by strengthening our homes
our families and our communities it’s
our turn to decide
to make something of greatness and honor
out of our lives by turning toward each
other
rather than turning on each other when
difficulties arise
it’s our turn to decide to stand up
to rise up and raise up the next
greatest generation of americans this
world will ever know
and so i return to my original question
when was your patriotism born
and have you decided to let it come
alive in you
does the way you live your life and
chase your dreams bring honor to those
who would give their lives and
every one of their dreams simply to
preserve for you
the chance to pursue yours
is it worth it
the life you live and the choices you
make
the dreams you chase the paths you take
every single day will decide if it will
ever be worth
the price that continues to be paid
believe me the price of freedom feels
incredibly high
to those of us who have loved and now
lost
our individual soldier sailor
airman or marine
but the value of freedom is immeasurable
to all who know
and love america and the indivisible
principles upon which she stands
i have no question that we best honor
those who have been willing to give
their lives for us
by making something of greatness and
honor
out of the lives that have been given to
us
so will it be worth it
it’s your turn to decide
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[Applause]
you