I’ll let WWII veteran Phillip Spooner explain. He does a better job than I ever could.
Partial transcript (full transcript at the link):
[…]
I am here today because of a conversation I had last June when I was voting. A woman at my polling place asked me, “Do you believe in equal, equality for gay and lesbian people?” I was pretty surprised to be asked a question like that. It made no sense to me. Finally I asked her, “What do you think our boys fought for at Omaha Beach?” I haven’t seen much, so much blood and guts, so much suffering, much sacrifice. For what? For freedom and equality. These are the values that give America a great nation, one worth dying for.
I give talks to eighth grade teachers about World War II, and I don’t tell them about the horror. Maybe [inaudible] ovens of Buchenwald and Dachau. I’ve seen with my own eyes the consequences of caste systems and it make some people less than others, or second class. Never again. We must have equal rights for everyone. It’s what this country was started for. It takes all kinds of people to make a world war. It does make no sense that some people who love each other can marry and others can’t just because of who they are. This is what we fought for in World War II. That idea that we can be different and still be equal.
I don’t think it’s really been on the radar here at Delaware Liberal but there is a vote in November in Maine on a proposition to define marriage as between a man and a woman. Marriage equality was passed by Maine’s legislature and signed by the governor but foes of marriage equality are tireless. If you feel like helping out, you can contact the No on 1 campaign.