South Korea Openly Grateful

In a recent speech Lee Myung-bak, the president of South Korea, was openly grateful for U.S. help. What surprised me most was the fact that he actually said the words "thank you." It seems that all the media reports now are stories of U.S. hatred and condemnation.

Here's a quote from his speech to Georgetown University on June 17th:
"The Korean War Memorial is not far from here. It is in front of the Arlington National Cemetery and those of you who haven't visited this beautiful memorial yet, please do so. There, you will find what your country stands for and what your grandparents did for others. You will find what courage and sacrifice means. You will be proud of what your country did and understand how grateful we are and that when we say thank you, we really mean it. Likewise, in my message to the American soldiers in Korea commemorating Memorial Day, I said that we will never forget the selfless sacrifice given to us by the young American soldiers to defend freedom and peace of Korea."

At a time when many seem content to take the blame heaped upon us for perceived ills, I for one am not buying it. I am proud of the generosity of our country. I am proud of the sacrifices brave men and women have made to further freedom. And I am beyond tired of apologies by our government.

We have succeeded in Iraq. We will succeed in Afghanistan. And we have our military (and their families) to THANK for it.

Happy July 4th everybody!