This week we as a nation honor our Veterans and deserving of our honor they are! To say I am proud of my brother would be an understatement! To honor him, today I share a letter he wrote a couple years back. It truly catches the heart behind Veteran's Day! Brother, thank you for your service and your words!

                July 4th, 1776.  Independence Day!  People dancing in the streets, the Redcoats defeated and hostilities ended.  Right?  Absolutely not.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  You might envision that day as a celebration of victory but history would prove you wrong.

                Did you know British troops did not leave New York City until November 25^th of 1783?  More than 7 years after our founding fathers had the courage to declare our independence even as the British fleet and army were arriving on our shores.  7 years of battle, blood, sacrifice and suffering.  7 years of determination, loyalty, faith and belief. 

                Our independence was declared in the face of what seemed to be insurmountable odds.  We were engaged and ready to battle the most dominate navy and army in the entire world at that time for what we believed in – “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government…”

                Signed copies of the Declaration of Independence were not sent to the states until January of 1777.  The ideal of freedom began to spread and the words of this document began to penetrate into the hearts of the citizenry. Numerous battles were fought from Princeton, NJ to Savannah, GA, in the dead of winter and the sauna of summer – over 10,000 dead or wounded soldiers were recorded during our Revolutionary War.

                Independence.  Freedom.  Country.  It came with a cost.  The cost to preserve those ideals has been tremendous in the wars fought during the intervening years to our present day.  Those men fell in love with the idea of our country and then fell, in love for our country.  Love never fails.  So this Veteran's Day, remember those who displayed courage of conviction and a vision for a better tomorrow.  May God through His son Jesus Christ and the working of His Holy Spirit continue to bless the United States of America.

STEVE A. YARBROUGH, Lt Col (Retired), USAF