Freedom Is Not Free
Wendell L. Irby
Education Conference ·
June 06, 2009
Wendell L.
Irby recalls playing solider as a young boy in the 1940s. He grew up
thinking about the sacrifice of those who served at the battlefront and
the character traits that make them great.
In his address,
“Freedom Is Not Free,” he said he felt that most Americans have short
memories and have forgotten many of the sacrifices made by Americans
who lost their lives in 38 terrorist attacks between 1961 and 2001.
Irby
recounted the events of September 11, 2001, and showed a slide
indicating the location of his Pentagon office just weeks before the
attack. Having been reassigned to a different location at the Pentagon,
he choked back tears as he described that his old office was in the
area struck by the nose of the plane that crashed there on 9/11. He
said that words cannot begin express the gratitude he feels to the Lord
for sparing his life.
Advocating the need for good men and women
to rise up when liberty is threatened, Irby quoted Benjamin Franklin
who said, “Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have
for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote.”
“The soldier is that well armed lamb,” Irby said.