Thank our veterans who have made America a special place

Ruth Ward
Commentary
November 11, 2023

First of all, my deepest respect and appreciation for what you, our veterans, have done to keep the rest of us safe. Words are totally inadequate to thank you for all the sacrifices you made to protect the citizens of the United States. Leaving a family behind and being shipped to worlds unknown, not knowing if there would be a future.

That took lots of guts, and perhaps also a conviction that the freedom that was being threatened was worth fighting for.

I do know why we went to war on Dec. 7, 1941, and it was not just because of the atrocities committed in Europe. In fact, I am not sure many Americans even knew about the horrors going on there at the time. The Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor and the next day we declared war on Japan. Four days later, Hitler declared war on the United States. Just 23 years after the first Armistice Day, the world was entering World War II.

It was a brutal war and some of you may have personal memories.

It was a war that up-ended political regimes in many countries. It has taken years to heal, but the wounds are deep. From D-Day in August 1945 to today, 75 years later, I don’t think I can say that we have had nothing but peace. There have been hot spots, such as the Korean War, Vietnam War, the Gulf War, but luckily none escalated into a third World War.

This brings us today, 105 years later. I am very concerned about what is happening in the Middle East. There is one small country fighting for its freedom to exist, against surrounding big countries who would like nothing more than to see it disappear from the face of the earth.

The United States has been called a shining city on a hill, and a beacon of hope and freedom. But I am very concerned; antisemitism is on the rise, criminals with bad intentions bringing drugs and violence across our northern and southern borders.

I, myself, am an immigrant. I came to the U.S. from Sweden as a young woman to study nursing and make a better life for myself. I married, had a family and chose to settle in New Hampshire because I know that America is a special place that values our freedoms more than anywhere else on earth.

As a state senator I do my best to honor the American values of freedom every day, but I also know that it is those brave soldiers that have given their lives, and those veterans that left their families to protect ours that are to thank.

Thank you, veterans, for your service to our country. I don’t want to see that your sacrifices were in vain. The fight for freedom is a never-ending pursuit, and we all have to participate. If we lose it, I am not sure how to get it back.

We have to be vigilant.

— Ruth Ward (R-Stoddard) represents District 8 in the New Hampshire Senate.