We're all in this together

Seeing as today is December 7th, Pearl Harbor Day, I thought it was perfect timing for this post!

This week, Forrest and I were invited to a wonderful fundraiser for the National WWII Museum in New Orleans. With an opening from the "Victory Belles," after listening to Stephen Ambrose's son speak and then hearing from a veteran himself, I am very excited to plan a trip to the museum. Plus I'm a complete history nut.

Stephen Ambrose is a historian and author. Some of his work and contributions resulted in the Band of Brothers and Saving Private Ryan. He is the founder of the museum. He leaves behind a wonderful legacy. His son spoke about the importance of keeping the stories from WWII alive. It was one of the first times in history that we headed someone to liberate, not conquer. We were also, at the time, not the most powerful country going against the most powerful groups in the world. The home-front attitude was that "we're all in this together." Stephen helped tell these stories through his many novels and help with the storyline for famous WWII movies.

The marine veteran speaker we were honored to meet was R.V. Burgin. The battle he spoke of was in the Pacific, at Peleliu. I will be honest, I had never heard of Peleliu before. And that was exactly his reason for sharing a story that he bottled up for decades, no one had heard of the Battle of Peleliu. The island was 2 miles by 6 miles and some days it reached 110 degrees, lasting over 2 months and ending in 8,000 casualties.

Stories of battles can be hard to listen to, images are hard to see, but it is so important to know what our country has done for us and what soldiers are continuing to do today. We cannot turn away and ignore these stories. Thank you to those who served and are serving.