I have traveled all over the world, to many different countries, as a tourist, a student, and a soldier. As a result, I firmly (110%) believe that our system of government is the greatest that there has ever been and that we enjoy more personal freedoms than any other people on earth. If you were lucky enough to have been born in the United States of America, then my friend you already have the winning lottery ticket. In the words of the great Merle Haggard: "When you're running down our country man, you’re walking on the fighting side of me". The cost for that freedom we have enjoyed and built upon for over 230 years now has been extremely high.

        I have lived to see inside former East Germany and North Korea, and have even been to the dark place in Berlin where Hitler's henchmen tortured and hung his political enemies. My conclusion from studying world politics in college and on my own is that the void created by the absence of good is simply evil. "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing". (attributed to Edmund Burke, Irish orator, philosopher, & politician (1729 - 1797).

        It is certainly true that nothing good or worth having in this life ever comes easy or cheap.  As in litigation, inevitably we have to fight or show that we are ready, willing and able to do so ... in order to resist evil, in order to fill the void.  Don’t be fooled by politicians courting a vote for higher office. The world is, in fact, a very dangerous place, and there are definitely people who care to cause maximum harm to this country. You and your family mean nothing to such people.

        Therefore, I would ask that tonight before you go to sleep, and even on every night, that when you give thanks you also please remember the brave men and women who willingly stand in harm’s way, ready to do violence if they have to, so that you can sleep in peace one more night. Right now, this very minute, and even as you sleep, here at home and all over the world, they are paying the price for us and they deserve all of the support that we can give them, and then some.

                  Remember that 4 boxes protect our freedom:

                                Soap, Ballot, Jury, and Ammo.

MAJ Jeffery Dickerson, Albany, Ga, a graduate of Georgia Military College gives final salute as tribute to SGT Chad Mercer, Waycross, Ga., a fellow graduate of Georgia Military College who died in a vehicle accident while serving in Iraq.