More than 1,000 United States WWII veterans die every day.
This staggering statistic reveals the bleak truth that soon, those who fought in WWII will only be names and memories.
My grandfather Lou Brown was a pilot for the Air force during WWII.
Last month we lost Lou to cancer.
It was an emotional reality check that made me realize how important and necessary it is to commemorate the fallen.
On this day I try to imagine what it felt like for those who served in the military 70 years ago. Waking up each day, stressing, wondering if the U.S. would enter the war against Germany, Japan and Russia. Then suddenly being told "We were attacked by Japanese aircraft at Pearl Harbor," and knowing it meant war.
It must have been terribly frightening knowing that you were going to be sent to Europe or Japan to fight the second world war. But those men and women who took an oath to defend this country will forever be remembered.
We honor these soldiers with memorials and holidays to commemorate what they did to put an end to the Axis regime.
59 years and 10 months later, passengers aboard U.S. Airlines flight 93 stood up against terrorists who hijacked the plane intending to crash into Washington D.C. Whatever their motives, those passengers helped defend the U.S. from enemies.
We honor them and the 3,000 others who lost their lives on Sept. 11, 2001.
It is vital to humanity that we commemorate those who lost their lives in both the attacks on Pearl Harbor and 9/11.
George Santayana, a Spanish philosopher, once said, "Those who cannot remember the past are doomed to repeat it."
Santayana's quote shows why it is vital to our race to remember events such as these for the rest of our existence.
We must educate every generation to come about these events to honor the fallen and to ensure that it does not happen again.
