Below is an excerpt from my book club book. It offers a bit of perspective and inspiration, I hope, concerning those who fought so valiantly during WW2 in la résistance française (the French Resistance.)
The words are those of Madame Fourcade, the head of the all-volunteer resistance group, Alliance, based in France. The book is Lynne Olson's Madame Fourcade's Secret War.
I find Madame Fourcade's sentiments my own as I ponder my role as an American these days, in relation to those who have gone before, who gave their all that you and I might live in a free Republic. With Marxism's current rampant march through our government and culture, I am acutely aware of the passing of the baton from our ancestors to us.
Will we defend freedom as the French Resistance did, so that France would live on as France, or in our case so that the United States of America will hold fast her Liberty?
Time will tell.
Marie-Madeleine Fourcade's words:
"The years have passed, my friends have died, but their spirit is still alive. I should like to know that they will not be forgotten, that the divine flame that burned in their hearts will be understood. Although they were from varied walks of life and political backgrounds, a moral common denominator overrode all their differences: a refusal to be silenced and an iron determination to fight against the destruction of freedom and human dignity. In doing so, they, along with other members of the resistance, saved the soul and honor of France."
May we be so courageous and wise.