Military veterans are the reason why we, as Americans, are able to wake up in the morning, make our own choices through the day and sleep peacefully at night. My dad says, “We sleep under a blanket of freedom each night”.

A military job consists of many advantages and disadvantages. Advantages include: good pay, privileges on military bases, various discounts and your guaranteed safety while on those bases. The disadvantages are why I respect veterans so much.

First, you could be deployed at a moments notice and if you were, you would be putting your life on line for the security of others. This is especially difficult for those members with families. While their families at home are busy with daily routines like, eating together, laughing and shopping, their deployed family members are waking up to a different atmosphere away from their loved ones.

I understand that when military service members have signed up for this job they are well aware of all circumstances, good and bad, that might come. Yet, they are still willing to sacrifice their everyday lives for the well-being of their country. The appreciation of the freedom Americans enjoy is the reason why they’re willing to make these sacrifices.

Memorials like Pearl Harbor and the Vietnam Wall are symbols of the cost it means to be free. My mom still gets teary when fighter jets do fly-bys at the football stadiums. When I ask her why, she just smiles, hugs me, and says it is just so awesome to live in America. Without our men and women in the military, none of this would be possible.

Military service is an honor and we should remember those who have served, are serving and have paid the ultimate price for the freedoms we all share each day.

Essay contest sponsored by Ladies Auxiliary, Military Order of The Purple Heart, Sunny Jones Unit 49