They chose liberty over enslavement

“I helped bomb Tokyo on the Doolittle raid of April 18, 1942. I crashed in the China Sea. I learned the full, deep meaning of the term ‘United Nations’ from men and women whose language I couldn’t speak. I watched a buddy of mine saw off my left leg. And finally, I got home to my wife after being flown, shipped and carried around the world.”

That was the first paragraph of Capt. Ted Lawson’s 1943 book, “Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo.”

He was lucky. He made it home — 291,557 did not. They died as a result of battle in World War II, the highest number of battle deaths in the 12 wars in which the U.S. has fought. 

Perspective: 178,938 died in battle in the Civil War; 4,435 died in the Revolutionary War; 53,402 in World War I; 58,220 in the Vietnam War; 33,739 in the Korean War; 6,930 in the War on Terror. Altogether, more than 650,000 Americans made the ultimate sacrifice on the battlefield.

On Monday, this Memorial Day, remember all of our fallen heroes. By their sacrifice, they took this extraordinary stand: They were unwilling to let their countrymen live as the conquered slaves of enemy forces. They chose liberty. We are forever grateful.