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Seventy Five years ago today the world joined forces to defeat a ruthless invader whose sole purpose was to annihilate those that were deemed less than perfect.  Today as I watched the Remembrance of D-Day and the men who fought valiantly; I am reminded that of how the world came together for peace.

Is history repeating itself?

Today, we are fighting another war.  We are fighting another invasion of hate and brutality towards freedom of religion.  Today, we must join forces to stamp out ISIS, jihadism.  It is like a disease that has spread and while it can be beaten; left unchecked it returns and spreads once more.  The Islamic State followers will continue to fight to overcome the world.

This was made clear to me when Thad and I spent a long weekend visiting New York with our 10 year old grandson.  We were gifted with a trip to West Point where our nephew is a professor and works for the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point.  Rich in history, strong in discipline, its mission is “to educate, train and inspire the Corps of Cadets so that each graduate is a commissioned leader of character committed to the values of Duty, Honor, and Country”.  It was an amazing visit and made me so proud of my nephew and my country.

 

We also went to see the 9/11 Memorial and Museum.  There I witness, once again, the wounds of evil that happened in 2001.  Because of its effects of destruction, many more innocent men and women are still dying from serving as first-responders. The pain and suffering of that day continues to resonate throughout our country.

 

 

If you have never been, it is a must to see it up close and personal.  The thought and care that went into the planning and building of this site cannot be described – you must see it and live it.  From the two pools with names etched on its sides designating where the twin towers had been, to the placement of those names that were killed so that they were near those they worked with, loved, and had relationships with one another.  The recordings of “end of life” voice messages, the pictures of the almost three thousand who lost their lives located in one room brought to the forefront that these were not just names but living, breathing people.  Between the stories of valor, the wreckage of fire trucks, twisted steel beams, personal effects of those lost – the pain was overwhelming even for me who did not lose anyone to this horrible scene of hatred.  It was almost too much to bear.

And yet, through this journey from one room to the next I saw resiliency, strength, perseverance, and unity reborn.  Much like D-Day seventy five years ago, we are scarred but not dead, in pain but not defeated.  Though this disease threatened to defeat us, we joined together to overcome and in doing so we are made stronger.

My grandson, Aiden wasn’t born when D-Day or  9/11 occurred but he is old enough now to know good from evil and this trip and the celebration of D-Day is not lost on him.  History, good or bad, should not be erased but play an integral part of our lives so that we can learn from it and hopefully apply our learning to living in harmony with all of God’s children.

I believe in God-incidences – this trip being scheduled so close to D-Day Remembrance being one of them.   It was a clear message to me that in this life there will always be evil.  Where we stand is our choice is ours to make.  Will we stand with those men who stormed the beaches of Normandy to save the world and those that deterred the hijackers from crashing Flight 93 into the Capitol building along with the brave and many first responders?

While we often do not wish to revisit our past, our mistakes even, but I for one needed this reminder.  Evil is not gone from this world.  Like a cancer, it continually morphs’ to bombard us, to overpower the good and left untreated it will indeed overcome us to the point of death.  We must be ever vigilant.

In a time of much division within our country let us never forget to stand united for good against evil.  It is my prayer that we join together as countrymen with our allies and work together so that ALL mankind (regardless of our differences) live in harmony without threat of annihilation, hatred, and evil.

God hear my prayer.

 

Thank you for reading my post.  If you have found it encouraging please consider liking, commenting or sharing it.  Feel free to comment here or even re-blog – may these words take flight! 

 I have additional insights I’d love to share with you found in the pages of my debut book: Surviving Medical Mayhem – Laughing When It Hurts.  To order a copy or learn more go to my website at www.lorettaschoen.com  

 Blessings for Health & Wellness.