I waited on an elderly gentleman this morning whom I have waited on many times. John is kind and soft spoken. He always has a smile on his face and speaks with a heavy Italian accent. As we made small talk I joked about the government shutdown. The smile quickly disappeared from his face. He said he could not believe so many educated people could not resolve this. He talked, with some embarrassment about how he did not even finish the 5th grade. I asked if he had to work and support his family. He said no, that Mussolini had come to power while he was in elementary school. By the time he was in 5th grade the war was going badly. German soldiers patrolled the streets and boys his age were known to have just disappeared. He did not know what happened to them. His family decided he should not go out any longer. The war ended and he made his way to the US. He worked at the Mill until he retired and now does landscaping to stay busy. I thought about what I was worried about in the 5th grade? I wondered how we could let this country slip away while men like John, who saw the worst the world had to offer, were still able to warn us about what could happen. I realized that this is not his fight. He did what he could. It is up to us now. We need to preserve freedom and liberty out of respect for men like John and because it is the right thing to do.