Younger generations know nothing of sacrifice

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Are you willing to die?

It has been a week since Veteran’s Day and here is an interesting statistic circling around the Internet: one in four homeless persons has served in the military. Hm…interesting. Does anyone really care? Does this writer?

Bill O’Reilly randomly asked young adolescents what they thought of their country and whether they felt any allegiance. Some were shy and didn’t have much to say. Some stated they liked their country but were not sure why. And some . . .well some said they didn’t owe America anything and, in fact, America was in debt to them. Wouldn’t President Kennedy be so proud? He was the one that said, "Ask not what you can do for your country, but what your country can do for you," right?

The disheartening truth is our culture is declining in patriotism.

The average person doesn’t care about the physical and mental sacrifices the men and women of our military have made for us and the world. When was the last time you thanked a veteran? Yours truly tried once but felt a bit uncomfortable. Perhaps because he really didn’t care or understand what such a sacrifice entailed.

On top of that, how many of us are willing to die for our country? Is there anything we are readily and wanting to give our lives for, so those around us may continue to enjoy it? Or are we the interviewed child who thinks only of himself and views the government as nothing worthy enough to be protected; yet demands it to provide the services him or her desires?

Are you or I willing to die for this country? Unfortunately, many of us, if not most of us, are not willing. And for that, the homeless veteran is richer than we will ever be.