A little late, But the 11th was Veterans day. I am a Army Veteran. I proudly served on active duty for 5 years active and another 3 inactive. I was lucky that i never was sent into an active combat arena. The closest I ever came was being deployed down to Panama where i worked some counter-narcotics missions.
I currently have, whom I consider to be, one of my best friends deployed to Iraq. He is a Sergeant First Class who works as a Master Explosive Ordanance Disposal Tech. His job is to investigate and diffuse bombs (bombs, mines, unexploded stuff) This is his 3rd depoloyment to Iraq. Not a day goes by that i don’t pray for his safe return home.
I can only hope that the insanity of this war is brought to a rapid halt. “We are not a nation building military, we are a war fighting military” G.W. Bush. These were words that the Commander in Chief spoke during his first campaign in 1999 (?). Since 9/11 he has been hell bent on rebuilding the country of a foreign land instead of improving and protecting our own. Don’t get me wrong, I think that Sadam needed to be taken care of, but that is what black ops units are for.
I would like to stand up and thank all those who have served and who are serving. I will forever support the soldier.
I have heard a few quotes today that have stuck with me….
“In war, there are no unwounded soldiers.” ~José Narosky
“This nation will remain the land of the free only so long as it is the home of the brave.” ~Elmer Davis
My .02
JB
As with every year…
Just like every year since the inception of this site, veterans have my thanks. On Nov 10, 1775, the Marine Corps was first established as “landing forces within the fleet” (the Navy, that was), and this week the Marines celebrated their 230th anniversary of inception.
I think the US Marine Corps has usually been a weapon of deterrence. There have been relatively few cases of wars fought on native soil (mostly with our neighbors, the Mexicans, and against various regional insurrections); instead, most US Marine actions (and most US Military actions) throughout history have been over contested areas abroad.
Although I’m quite ambivalent about our actions in Iraq, I still think the place for our soldiers is largely abroad, forestalling actions which would bring other nations into conflict with our homeland. The use of such a powerful tool as our armed forces, however, requires enormous diplomacy, tact, and discretion. I believe that, by and large, our soldiers display these abilities. I also believe, however, that the current Commander In Chief chooses to ignore these aspects of forceful political action, and this reflects upon our mission to prevent war on our shores.
May we be possess the wisdom to work diligently to preserve our freedoms, and work to preserve these same freedoms for the world at large. May we support our soldiers at home and abroad, and elect leaders who will govern with the wisdom our sons and daughters in service to us deserve.
—
Matthew P. Barnson
Freedom isn’t Free
About six weeks ago, my best friend and I climbed Mt. Timpanogas. It’s the second largest mountain in Utah, and the most climbed in Utah.
We started late in the morning so many people were on their way down already. One of which was an older man. We would talk to everyone passing so we asked him how far to the top and how’s the weather up there. He was wearing a baseball cap that had something to Iraq, so I asked him if he’d served there in the military. He said yes and told us how long he’d been there. They had just brought him back and he had one week with his family. He took his kids mountain climbing to create memories together because in just a few days they would be shipping him to Russia for a more quiet mission.
I don’t know what he specialized in, but he was honored to serve his country. I thanked him for keeping us free. He seemed a bit surprised by my comment and then told me he appreciated hearing that because on the news, all the soldiers see are the rallies against the war.
So to all of our veterans and all other military active or retired, thank you for keeping us free!–
Christy
I couldn’t agree with you
I couldn’t agree with you more and I will also keep your friend in my prayers so that he will make it back home safe. Take care and keep up the good blogging!