I was very impressed by Josiah Hokanson’s commentary “Use the gifts you’ve been given” (11/13/13) calling us all to value two of the gifts that our military has fought and died for which he found the most compelling. The gift of the privilege to vote and our right to a trial by jury.

He is wise beyond his years, exposing to us our failure to honor the privilege of the vote by expressing the reality that less than half of Washington state voters cast a ballot in the last presidential election (the record over the years for all elections is also quite dismal) while also pointing out the tragic failure of the majority of those called to serve on a jury to honor that duty as a gift from all those who have gone before them who fought to guarantee that right exists today and in the future.

There is another gift our military has fought and died for which too many also reject. The gift of liberty which allows men to live free from the bonds of tyranny which can only be thwarted by an informed and engaged electorate. The reality of tyranny is always one generation away and when the apathy and complacency of the current generation forgets that liberty isn’t free, that it must always be defended, the survival of freedom for the next generations is in jeopardy.

Thank you Josiah for an eye-opening commentary on the tragic state of affairs that exist not only in Washington State, but throughout the country.

Elaine Biggerstaff

Bonney Lake