This is in response to Jim Crawford’s column in the paper on Friday, May 3, titled “Understanding Socialism.

The author should tell the information he cited to the 2,900,818 Gold Star parents or the 1,450,409 soldiers who have given the ultimate sacrifice for this country to be what it is today — Free.

Not to mention all the countless men and women who have served who came home with disabilities that plague them today, many of them have died with these ailments. The countless nightmares, body deformities — these men have all this for our right to be free.

The claims that Denmark has different medical in their country is a non-conversation starter for this writer. What works for them does not mean it is good for America. And, yes, I believe we are the greatest nation on earth, not just when my party is in power.

According to a 2016 Google search, there are approximately 20.4 million veterans today, and that is why we are not socialist. The answer isn’t that government will take care of all of our needs, sometimes we need to get off the couch and do a little for ourselves.

Our founding fathers said it so many years ago quite eloquently that “government is best that governs least.” This is attributed to Thomas Jefferson and famously quoted by Henry David Thoreau.

And, yes, on a much brighter said, we do have more weapons than the rest of the planet, which, in my opinion, that, and the fact that we still have over 20 million vets here, are two of the reasons we have never been attacked by a military force on our own shores.

So, on July 4, as we celebrate 243 years as a nation (most of them as a world leader and defender of democracy), we should remember why those 41,892,128 Americans served in a combat zone.

It sure wasn’t to have a few people who think socialism is just great and want to overthrow the Constitution “of the people and by the people.”

China, Cuba, Laos, Vietnam, even Russia are considered socialist countries. If, in your opinion, this country is lacking in something that these are so much more in step with your beliefs, I encourage you to pick one and kindly move there.

I bet you will be begging to get back in.

You may even have a new appreciation for what veterans have done for you.

John Anson is a U.S. Marine living here in the Tri-State.