By Lionel D. Alford, Jr.
"The many times I was called to travel in Europe in the service of the United States Air Force, I visited numerous monuments encircled by the graves of American war dead. They were soldiers, sailors, and airmen who gave their lives on foreign shores to protect both the United States and nations where their remains lay. This small truth did not elude those foreign nations because the monuments I visited were in most cases more beautiful than those you find in the United States. They were generally more ornate and costly than those that were built to honor that nation’s own war dead. I cannot attest to the fact, but from the number of graves I saw I would guess that the number of US war dead buried overseas dwarfs the number buried on American soil. The American soldier, sailor, or airman has never cowered from the fight to defend our country or our allies. Except when constrained or prevented by our political leadership, they have never shirked their duties nor ceased to defend the innocent. Each of our war dead represents the highest this nation can produce and we should honor them and those still living who stood at their sides. And we must always remember our military members are only as strong as the nation that backs, honors, and remembers them."
Lionel D. Alford, Jr. is Contributing Editor to Wings Over Kansas. Please log on to his page, "Military Aviation Adventures," on this web site.