We spent a very moving day in Kansas City, Missouri, where it’s easy to remember what really matters, because here we have the National World War I Museum and Liberty Memorial.
The Liberty Memorial Tower is dedicated “In honor of those who served in the World War in defense of liberty and our country.” Reading the many memorial inscriptions while standing in the rain was a somber and humbling reminder of the sacrifices young Americans made nearly a century ago in distant battlefields so far from home. So many of them never returned from those fields in France and Belgium. Yes, it was a somber, real, significant moment reading those words about the honor in one’s dedication to God and country.
The main inscription on the memorial reads: “These have dared bear the torches of sacrifice and service. Their bodies return to dust but their work liveth evermore. Let us strive on to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.”
I took the above photo of Piper and my niece McKinley with the memorial in the background. It brought home to me what this “One Nation Tour” is about. It’s about the duty we have not just to the living, but also to the dead and to the generations yet to be born. Our founders called us the “heirs of freedom,” and as such we have a duty to those who have already paid the price for us to live in freedom, and we have a duty to those who will come after us.
Our freedom was purchased by millions of men now long-forgotten throughout our history who charged the cannons, ran into bayonets, suffered in the trenches, and gave their lives so that we could live in relative comfort doing what we feel led to do. We can’t squander what they gave us or what the next generation expects from us. This is why visiting these historic sites and bringing your children to see them is so important. This is why I wanted to bring my own children with me to show them our history and remind them that America’s children will carry the torch of freedom one day.
Now it’s back to Alaska for the start of the school year. (And, of course, our annual visit to our own state fair where Piper looks forward to clogging on the Blue Bonnet Stage!) While kids crack open their school books, I look forward to continuing my own writing and research on strategies and plans to help move our country forward.
We will be back on the road soon, for on September 3rd we’ve been invited to a big Tea Party “Restoring America” rally in Waukee, Iowa. We hope to see many of you there as we gather to discuss the direction of our country and the way forward with our fundamental restoration of all that is good and strong and free in America. You can click here for more information on the event.
Thank you all for your support and for sharing this leg through the Heartland of the “One Nation Tour” with us.
With an Alaskan heart,
- Sarah Palin
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