It's interesting to reflect, on Veterans Day, that all bravery can ever buy is time. What we do with that gift of time, so dearly purchased, is always what momentary victory is all about. It's a chance, nothing more.The more I think about that sentence, the more profound it seems.
All that bravery by the Allied soldiers that bought victory in World War II bought such a chance – one that paid off immensely.
No less bravery was demonstrated by American soldiers in the Vietnam war, but the chance it bought was largely squandered (and the job left unfinished).
What will we do with the chance that our troops (and those of our coalition partners) are in the process of buying in Iraq?
