Dedicated to the men and women who, over the past 250 years, have stood watch over the United States of America.
To those who left home so others could remain safely in theirs.
To those who stood on distant shores, sailed unknown seas, flew into hostile skies, patrolled lonely frontiers, and walked into danger so their fellow Americans would not have to.
To those who answered the call, whether by choice or by duty.
To those who carried burdens they could never fully explain.
To those who returned forever changed.
To those who never returned at all.
Freedom has never been free.
Its cost has been measured not only in lives lost, but in years spent far from family, in sacrifices never seen by the public, in wounds both visible and invisible, and in the quiet weight carried long after the fighting ended.
Every one of them paid a price.
Some paid with time.
Some with health.
Some with peace.
Some with everything.
This book is dedicated to all who accepted that burden so that future generations might inherit a nation where liberty could endure.
May we never forget that the blessings we enjoy today were purchased by the courage, sacrifice, and devotion of ordinary Americans who chose to do what others did not have to.
Their names may not all be recorded.
Their service is written into the history of our nation.
May God bless them all.