Select one of my POW-MIA Dedication Pages:
[LtCol
Bobby Neeld] [Capt
Mitchell Lane] [Capt
Randall Craddock] [Col
Stuart Andrews] [SSgt
Alfons Bankowski]
[Norwich
Connecticut Memorial] [Viet
Nam Veterans Memorial Wall]
A Veteran's Day Essay by Rachel Axelrod (Link to her award)
11/09/01
Freedom isn’t free. What does it mean? It means
that people go to war for freedom. Sometimes
they even die for freedom. Sometimes it divides
a country. Sometimes it can destroy peoples lives
forever. The cost of freedom can be priceless.
In the Civil War, many people were killed.
They were fighting for freedom, because the black
people were being treated unfairly. In the
1950's, black people were still being treated unfairly.
When they wanted to ride the bus and all the
seats were full, they had to give up their seat to a
white person. Then that all changed, because
of a lady named Rosa Parks.
Rosa Parks refused to give a white person her
seat on a bus, in Montgomery, Alabama. This took
place in 1955, and started the civil rights
movement. She was arrested for violating the law that
said that whites and blacks had to sit on
different rows of the bus. The front rows were for the whites
and the back rows were for the blacks. The
blacks started a boycott prior to her arrest. The boycott
was lead by Martin Luther King, Jr. He also
wanted to end bus segregation. She is also known as
the mother of the civil rights movement. Together
the blacks made a difference in our history.
Their freedom cost Martin Luther King his
life as well.
There were many others that fought for freedom.
They were the heroes and veterans of World
Wars 1 & 2, Vietnam, Desert Storm, Korea,
and many, many more even not involving our country.
Men and women were called to serve their countries
only to die or remained scared for the rest of
their lives. Freedom is precious to us because
not everyone has the right to be free.
The United States of America was not always
a free nation. The leaders of our country from many
years past fought for the many rights of freedoms.
These freedoms were a part of the Declaration
of Independence which has bound us as a nation
for many years and years to come. These founding
fathers of freedom had to overcome many hardships
for their people. These freedoms are still being
used improperly still today. Battles in courtrooms,
schools and neighborhoods are hurting people.
It's hard to realize that even today countries
around the world continue to fight for any basic freedoms.
Our country tries to be the peacekeeper but
it sometimes doesn't work that great. Innocent lives are
being taken everyday because some people just
want to be powerful. If only freedom could be less
costly and everyone could have this right.
Updated July 25, 2002
