Thanksgiving Reflections - 2007

Where were you on Thanksgiving morning?  
Were you in a warm, fragrant kitchen putting the finishing touches on your holiday dinner?
Were you in a car chatting about the anticipation of seeing family and friends?
Were you in an airplane watching your descent into the waiting arms of relatives and acquaintances?  
Thanksgiving - a time to reflect?  Nah - it's time to eat and gossip!

Yet the foundation for this loud, boisterous, comforting holiday is off exit 17 on Interstate 93.
This cold, peaceful, quiet retreat is the New Hampshire Veterans Cemetery.  
On this day, the 22nd of November,
a lone bugler and that haunting sound of TAPS stands in stark contrast
to this happy American holiday.  
And yet it seems especially appropriate to hear that mournful sound today,
where the horror of war, the loneliness of deployment,
the requirements of duty is captured in those 24 notes,
reminding us of the sacrifices made by our guardians of American traditions.
They proudly defend and safeguard that which we frequently take for granted.

This lone bugler, this silent place, this frozen ground reminding us, "Freedom is NEVER free".