Editorial
Knowledge, Sacrifices Show Love For U.S.A.

United States Senator Hillary Clinton made an unfortunate remark, for which she later apologized, that indicated most young people today are interested only in silly, self-serving or superficial pursuits.

It isn't hard to see how such a misconception might arise. Some young people interviewed on a certain late-night television show can't name the vice president of the United States or tell where Iraq is. Granted, these "interviews" have been edited and don't show the people who do know that Dick Cheney is the vice president and who can point out Iraq on a map. But there are many indications that people who are unblushingly ignorant of the news and basic facts about the government of the country they live in are not in the least unusual. If the popularity of celebrity gossip items and the paucity of news stories with current events as their subject provide any indication, we are becoming less knowledgeable about the world we live in with every passing day.

There are those among us who seek to rise above ignorance and who know enough American history to have formed ideas about where their duty and their loyalty lie. One of these was Sergeant Jose Gomez, who was killed by a roadside bomb in Iraq shortly before his second tour of duty in that Middle Eastern nation was due to end. Gomez, a 23-year-old resident of Corona, had lost the young woman he planned to marry to enemy action in Iraq in 2003. He recovered from that devastating blow and planned to marry another young woman, but died before he could realize his plans. Gomez was posthumously presented with the Purple Heart and the Bronze Star. At his funeral in St. Michael's Cemetery, the medals and the flag that served as his funeral pall were presented to his mother.

Gomez' sacrifice is all the more impressive when one considers that this young man was a resident alien. A legal immigrant, Gomez did not wait to achieve citizenship in the United States of America. He volunteered for service with the United States Army before ever becoming eligible to vote for the government that sent him into battle. It would seem patently evident that this young man loved his adopted country and believed in its principles and its government, even unto death. Whatever his tastes in music, fashion or recreational activities might have been, Sergeant Gomez obviously found something other than the trivial and banal to occupy his thoughts and his time. He was willing to devote-and sacrifice- his life to an ideal.

Nor is Jose Gomez unique. All across America other young men and women are putting self-centered pursuits aside and enlisting in the nation's Armed Forces. True, some are interested only in a paycheck and some privileges. The vast majority, however, look beyond their everyday concerns to become a part of something greater than themselves.

Throughout this nation's history other young people have done likewise. "Who more than self their country loved and mercy more than life" runs the line from a stanza of "America the Beautiful". It is they whom we will honor this coming Monday, May 29 when we celebrate Memorial Day. We call on our readers to take a moment on May 29 to honor the sacrifice of those who fell for our freedom. It is little enough when we remember all they have done for us.