Dear daughters and sons

Cape May, N.J. — I speak of you as if you were my own. I heard some of you were killed today fighting in a war to protect freedom.

You are young people in the service of America, losing your lives in a land many miles away, fighting for the freedom I enjoy today. I look at the flag waving in front of my house and it reminds me of each of you.

I will not forget what you did yesterday nor what many of you will be called on to do tomorrow. To give your futures for this freedom I call my own. A life is such a gift, and yet you chose to offer that gift in the name of freedom. My freedom. The freedom of my children and grandchildren. The freedom of my friends and family, and of the world.

You are the sons and daughters of mothers such as myself, and fathers who are grieving with them. Though they have lost you today, they are proud that you have given your life in the service of your country and while doing the job you wanted to do. I mourn with your parents the loss of their children.

And I need to promise them that I will not forget their sons and daughters when my children go to work in freedom and without fear. I will not forget them when my grandchildren go to school, free from terror. I will not forget these brave fallen heroes each day that I am able to express what I feel, do what I want and enjoy the freedoms this country promises.

Dear daughters and sons, I want you to know, you are not alone. We are fighting by your side, against this invisible enemy called terrorism. It is a battle we dare not lose.

Many of us are uniting, getting to know one another in a deeper way. We are closing the gaps between us. We care more now about our neighbors and ourselves. We are truly appreciating our country. Valuing it. Caring for it. And as we do, we remember each of you who have given your lives so that we may enjoy our homes, our schools, our businesses, our oceans and our land.

And because we are grateful and because we shall not forget what you are giving, the tomorrows you are sacrificing, we will sing our songs of freedom loudly, and cast aside our own fears. No matter how we are threatened, we shall follow your example of courage, because we owe you our survival.

And when we are tempted to surrender our ideals, we shall remember each and every one of you and continue the battle. We cannot give up because you do not. If we lose freedom, we lose everything.

You are not just the children of your parents. You are the children of this country and all of us who live here. We have lost you also.

Harriet May Savitz is a writer and the author of 20 books, including the recent “Messages from Somewhere: Inspiring Stories of Life After 60” (Little Treasures Publications).