Johnny

"You know, Johnny was in the war."

I heard that phrase many times as a child, but the older I get, the more it means to me. Don't misunderstand, I was a very patriotic kid. I respected my elders, especially those who served their country. I just hadn't lived enough life to really comprehend it.

If you visit the little church in which I was raised, you will meet a man named Johnny. He and his wife Leona are there every week in spite of persistent health issues.

In late 1944, Johnny found himself in a remote forest near the border of Belgium and Germany. He was just a kid, so far from home, still morning the death of his twin brother who had died a few months earlier in France when Adolph Hitler sent his 277th Volksgrenadier Division into the American lines in a last-ditch effort to save his empire.

Johnny was a foot soldier with the 1st Battalion of the 393rd Regiment of the 99th U.S. Infantry Division charged with manning the front line near the German Western Wall. The German attack quickly overwhelmed the American position. Johnny said, "They broke through on our right and on our left. We were surrounded." He and his fellow soldiers spent three terrifying nights behind enemy lines, freezing in the snow and ice.

I recently had the privilege of listening to Johnny share some of his memories of those fearful days. "Thank you" is all I could muster and it didn't begin to convey my gratutude. As he was leaving, he said something I will never stop repeating. He said, "You know, freedom isn't free and the ones who pay for it don't have the priviledge of being around to enjoy it."