In every generation... there have been those who have answered the call... to defend freedom... oppose tyranny... and free the oppressed. All gave some. Some gave all. They were with us then. They are with us now.

They love... they prepare... they comfort... they yearn... they fight... they pray... and sometimes... they die. Yes. These same brave souls are with us today. But what's more important... ... is that we are with them.

God bless our military men and women.

- from the video

“We Support You”

Veterans Day is not just about honoring the men and women who wore the uniforms of our armed forces. It is a reminder that America's soldiers, sailors, Marines and airmen are freedom's generations. It is through their courage and sacrifice that the freedoms this nation both enjoys and embodies have been extended to much of the rest of humanity.

What brought it all home to me was a video presented during Sims Junior High School's Veterans Day celebration. Entitled “We Support You,” the video is a montage of photos of our fighting men and women from World War II through the fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq. There are scenes of American soldiers and Marines storming enemy-occupied beaches and liberating concentration camps. The raising of Old Glory on Iwo Jima is followed by three firefighters raising it amid the ruins of the World Trade Center.

Using photos from across the last seven decades, the video reminds us that our fighting men and women have families they love and yearn to be with even as they are defending their nation. It shows them preparing for war and fighting it. It shows them giving comfort both to wounded comrades and most helpless of war's victims. It shows them at prayer. It also shows them when they have given all that they can ever give in the service of their country and the cause of freedom.

The opening words of the video place these sacrifices within the context that we as a free people most never forget. America is the superpower of freedom and for the last century has used its power to extend freedom throughout the world. It has done so because of the dedication, courage and sacrifice of its fighting men and women. They are the ones who have made it possible for America to thwart the twisted dreams of tyrants, maniacs and fanatics.

Where America's fighting men and women triumph, freedom replaces tyranny and hope supplants despair. You can see this on the faces of concentration camp victims rescued from certain death. You see it in the faces of the once oppressed peoples of Iraq and Afghanistan given a chance to join the free world.

America is blessed to have men and women who are willing to put their own interests aside to become freedom's generations. We needed them in the past, we need them now and we will need them in the future as threats to freedom increase.

The Veterans Day program at Sims began with veterans being escorted to their seats by the members of Boy Scout Troop 42. I wondered if at least some, or perhaps all, of those young boys - and their counterparts in the bleachers - may one day be called upon to become members of freedom's generations. Though I shudder at the idea of these children forced to endure the hell of war, I am gladdened by the thought that if called upon, they, like the veterans honored that day, will answer the call to become the next of freedom's generations.

Why will they do it? For the same reason previous generations have done so. Because they are Americans, a people born out of the struggle for freedom. America's fighting men and women are the champions of freedom and as long as they are with us - and we are with them - America will remain true to who she is.

Freedom's generations still have a lot of work ahead of them.

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“We Support You” is available for viewing on youtube.com. Just type in “America's Heroes- We Support You.”