Did you know that every evening at 5:30 pm on Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, the Star-Spangled Banner is played over loudspeakers, and at the first note, everyone stops walking, talking, or whatever they are doing to salute the closest United States flag, whether they can actually see it or not?
I didn't know it, until last weekend. I found it very reassuring, like knowing that every minute of every day, prayers for peace are being lifted at a Mass somewhere in the world.
Is there a way to have the Star-Spangled Banner play on my phone every evening at 5:30, so I don't forget to be grateful for my country and our freedom?
Four days spent on an Air Force base, attending graduation ceremonies and hanging out with an airman, is a great reminder of the sacrifices that are made on our behalf every day to ensure that freedom.
I'm grateful I was able to do just that this past weekend, surrounded by young men and women (so young!) focused on serving their/our country for the next few years, ready to go where they are told to go and do what they are told to do.
TG's boyfriend is one of them, currently training for a job that isn't very safe, but it's the one he feels called to do. My prayers will be with him and all of the others, along with my thanks, as they head off on this journey.
This nation will remain the land of the free only so long as it is the home of the brave.
~Elmer Davis
