CHARLESTON AIR FORCE BASE, S.C. –
April denotes the honor and tribute of a truly significant historical event. On April 12, 1951, Israel's parliament proclaimed Yom Hashoah U'Mered HaGetaot, which means Holocaust and Ghetto Revolt Remembrance Day. The name was later simplified to Yom Hashoah or the Jewish reverenced "Days of Remembrance." This year, Yom Hashoah is April 21.
As Team Charleston approaches the Days of Remembrance, we must not forget what we are fighting for in the Global War on Terrorism. It's been nearly sixty-four years since the Holocaust ended; however, hatred, discrimination and prejudice still occur.
"The Holocaust did not finish in 1945," Judea Pearl, who spoke those words as she watched her son's name being inscribed into the Holocaust Memorial Wall in Florida. Her son, American journalist Daniel Pearl, was captured and brutally murdered by terrorists in 2002. Although not murdered during the Holocaust, Daniel still died by the hands of hatred.
As we defend our freedom and fight for others to keep theirs, we must start with ourselves. We all must have moral courage. While hatred plagued Europe during the Holocaust, the influence clearly still exists in today's world. We constantly encounter people, situations, beliefs and ideas that deaden the spark of humanity.
One person may not have been responsible for the Holocaust, but we are each individually responsible for putting an end to hatred. This hatred may be present in our lives, workcenters or during a long deployment. Examples of hatred include racial slurs, insensitive comments or insulting another's race or beliefs. Many think it's OK if no one is offended, right? Wrong. Tragedies like the Holocaust began with something small. The Holocaust epitomized how a seemingly harmless idea can extinguish the spark inside one person and end the lives of millions more.
In the heat of the moment it seems impossible to have moral courage and can buckle in the face of adversity. The Holocaust serves as one of history's most sobering warnings that we must decide ahead of time to not yield in a time of crisis. No matter how serious the circumstances or how high the stakes are, there are lines we will not cross.
As we approach the Days of Remembrance, I challenge each Team Charleston member to find the name of a Holocaust victim. By remembering a victim you will honor their struggle and the adversity they faced. Let Team Charleston speak out against the discrimination, prejudice, violence and hatred that has so long stained our history. Exercising moral courage enables us to stand for those who could not, speak for those who were silenced and live for those who were murdered.