Citizen Soldiers

"People sleep peacefully at night only because rough men stand ready to violence on their behalf"

-Orson Wells.

I heard a new song last night at the movies by the band "3 doors down". It is called "citizen soldiers" and can be seen at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJRthpxDM10. It is a tribute to our national guard, who, in normal life are ordinary citizens with regualr jobs; but who are also members of our armed forces ready to go to war when needed. Many of the forces presently fighting in Iraq are members of national guard units across the country. They have taken leave from civilian life to fight for our country.

In WWII, most of the fighting force in Europe were "citizen soldiers" hence, the title. They dropped everything, left the life they were used to and went to war against the Nazi war machine. Thousands died, thousands more were wounded and maimed, and all of them did not see family members for years. The Germans were defeated due mainly to the efforts of the common man willing to give all for a cause.

There is a line from the song by "3 doors down" that says, "the strongest among us may not wear a crown". And that, my friends, is it in a nutshell. Heros, real heros are normal people willing to give all in the name of freedom.