Nearly 20 years ago my wife Melinda and I were visiting some friends who lived on Maui. One of them had taken up residence as a pilot in training, and the other was working to set down roots on the island while building his service business.

One day, we decided to take our friend CL up on his offer to show us around his area. He lived towards the top of a mountain, and like many parts of Hawai’i it was usually about 82 degrees and really nice weather.

We lounged at his house in the morning for a bit, enjoying some Kona coffee brew, and then decided to go on a walk. There the adventure began.

We sauntered on down past an unmanned fruit stand. There were fresh fruits of all kinds set out, and prices listed for each. All you had to do was grab what you wanted, drop some change into a box and then be on your way. It was the neighborhood fruit stand, and the whole thing was based on the honor system.

After grabbing some fruit, we continued walking down the road, until we crossed the street into a parking lot with a playground and some historical markers. The historical markers started to tell us about where we were. It turned out, that in World War II, the place where we were exploring, was a training camp for over 20,000 soldiers who were to be sent over to Japan during the latter parts of the war.

Our friend let us take a look around, and read the historical plaques. We read about the thousands of people who had been vibrantly alive, trained, and then sent on their way to make the greatest sacrifice of all.

As we stood there it started to sink in a little bit how fortunate we were. Our friend noticed that we were gravitating to the part of the story where many of the soldiers trained on this hill went to Iwo Jima and other famous battles, and how most of those who were trained never came back.

We walked into the woods.

The tropical forest was thick and so was the moisture in the air. We stepped over roots and moved branches and leaves out of our way, and began to climb up, up, up. It got hot, we sweated, and we kept huffing and puffing our way up the mountain.

Almost like a dream, we came to the top, and suddenly the top of the mountain opened up into fifty or a hundred trees – huge, tall trees – all planted in distinct, orderly rows. This was no mistake – this was deliberate.

And it was a gift.

Many decades prior to our stepping foot on that very place, the soon-to-be soldiers of World War II had planted saplings in a very ordered and deliberate manner, knowing that they would never see that place again.

They planted these trees with confidence that the trees would grow tall and that someday the people they were fighting for would enjoy this special forest.

We were those people, and standing there, as we received this amazing gift – my eyes started to well up with tears of gratitude.

These soldiers were thinking ahead two or three generations, and by planting these trees, they had given us a little piece of their world. We were standing in the living, breathing manifestation of their ultimate optimism, in the form of a secret forest on top of a hill.

These men had a purpose, and knew that they were fighting to make the world a better place. And they left a secret gift for all of us on top of a hill on Maui for those who know where to look.

Most of them never made it back, and today we honor their sacrifice.

Happy Memorial Day.

Jason “Wally” Waldron is the secret weapon behind owners, founders, and CEOs of B2B companies who use his unique profit acceleration strategies to grow faster and maximize the value of their business. When these owners feel trapped in their businesses, he applies Exitology™ so they can buy back their time and freedom. He’s published a book on how to profitably grow to exit your business in the next 3-5 years. Grab your copy here.