My friend Thomas Drago Dzieran was born in Communist Poland. He, his mother, and his siblings survived a hungry, cold, and fearful existence, living under that oppressive, authoritarian regime.
As he grew older, he rebelled against this draconian way of life and was eventually imprisoned for speaking out against socialist oppression and questioning how he and his fellow Poles people were terrorized and abused.
But, he was one of the lucky ones—he "only" went to prison. He wasn’t murdered and buried in an unmarked grave as countless others were.
He was also lucky because he eventually escaped—working with the American embassy, he immigrated to America, went on to serve in the Navy, and became a fellow SEAL.
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I had the honor of serving alongside Drago and watching him fight for our American ideals.
Early in the war, he, more than any of us, knew and understood that our freedom is a gift. He knew this because he had lived without freedom for the first half of his life.
But, over time, those of us who served all learned the true value of our freedom—because we saw the price that was paid.
We saw our military men and women wounded or killed by rockets, machine guns, and roadside bombs.
We saw what it did to them and to their families.
We saw with our own eyes that freedom is not free.
The price of freedom is the blood of our nation’s finest men and women.
On this Fourth of July, remember that.
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For our life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, they sacrificed theirs.
For our country. For our flag.
It can be easy to forget the cost of freedom.
Easy to squander our opportunities as Americans.
Easy to focus on what we have done and continue to do wrong as a country.
Easy to emphasize our differences rather than our similarities.
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And those behaviors are an affront to those who made the ultimate sacrifice.
Instead, find common ground with your fellow Americans.
Focus on the ideals that our country strives toward.
Take advantage of the opportunities we have as Americans.
And—finally—never forget the true cost of freedom: the blood of our nation’s finest.
Our American heroes, who gave us our freedom, and our flag.
