I am 52 years old and have 4 brothers. My older brothers were fortunate enough not to have been drafted into the Vietnam war. One went to the Naval Academy and served as a Marine for 5 years thereafter, but not in combat. One went to Fort Schuyler, a NY Merchant Marine college. He was probably the closest to being drafted. Another was not old enough to be to be drafted for Vietnam. He joined the Navy after college and served for 13 years. My younger brother and his wife are career members of the US Coast Guard. My father was in the Army Air Force. He was also fortunate enough to have never seen active duty. My husband was in the Army and served in Taiwan in the early 70’s. His father was an Army Ranger who saw significant, serious action in WWII. He was wounded at least three times, but felt this was his duty to his country and never accepted a Purple Heart, nor any of his medals, which we later requested and display proudly in our home alongside the American Flag my husband was given at his funeral.

My parents have always been patriotic and instilled this in my brothers and me. All of us were in the Civil Air Patrol when we were teenagers. I have flown an American Flag at my home every day since I can remember. I lived two blocks from the World Trade Center until June of 2001 when my husband and I made a timely move to New Jersey. Our wedding took place in New York Harbor facing the Statue of Liberty with a backdrop of the World Trade Center on September 2, 2001, just over a week before 9/11. Our wedding photos are bittersweet.

I cannot be thankful enough to every solider who has served in ANY service in ANY capacity in ANY war. I also cannot forget those who stayed behind and served in their own way. My mother visited soldiers in the hospitals and read to them and kept them company when they were injured and dying. Wives stay behind and try to raise their children alone. Mothers and Fathers, Sisters and Brothers, Relatives and Friends wait and worry until their loved ones come home, or not. Strangers pray and read stories of those who are injured and die for this Country. Not only do we cry for our own, but for the innocents who are killed in the paths of these wars.

I raise no political issues here. I only wish to thank everyone who shows compassion for those who are doing what they can to make this world better.

I hear criticism from people who think those who join our armed forces because they have no other way to make a living and signed up because they need money for an education and really didn’t want to go to war, but end up going and sometimes dying because they couldn’t find another means to support their families. I don’t judge them for being poor, for causing pregnancies in their teens, for growing up in slums, for dropping out of school. I can only pray for them and thank them, because in the end, they made a decision to join our forces and they’re now fighting for our Country and I don’t think they deserve any less of our support now that they are in the line of fire. Please pray all of our soldiers, regardless of why they became soldiers.

I’m so grateful that my family was not lost to war, I know so many others cannot say this. To those I extend my heartfelt sympathy and gratitude. To our Soldiers and Veterans, I can’t thank you enough for what you suffer and sacrifice (present and past).

-Kathryn Levine, Mahwah, NJ