Some Things We Just Take for Granted

As a military family we lived in so many places and have seen the benefits of 18 locations and a few negatives as well. For example, in one foreign country we lived in the government officials expected payoffs (bribes) to do their jobs. We had some nationals who told us that they paid 1/2 of their mortgage to the official to make sure the payment was recorded properly or they got no credit for it. This happened to us when trying to get a new license plate and our car “failed” the inspection which was a blatant attempt to blackmail us. Now we have many faults in the US too but these were two we saw overseas that would shock most Americans when dealing with government officials (and yes the lines were just as long as at most American license bureaus, etc.)

We often take our freedoms such as speech, travel and worship for granted. Many countries do not share these freedoms and in some cases the governments of these countries would like to see these freedoms reduced so they are not as appealing to some of their citizens. Terrorist groups would like to see us make changes too in support of their agendas.

Defending us from these multiple challenges to our freedoms from overseas is our military community! One and all–Five services, active duty, reserve and guard and of course their families! I just wish sometimes while we celebrate our freedoms on the 4th of July that the rest of the country would recognize a bit more what we all do and give up so they can enjoy the fireworks like they just did!