Freedom isn't free. Not even close. I know it seems so cliche, so obvious...and something that needs not be said...but it's true...and so easily forgotten.
I went to my first military send off today. Actually, I'm not sure it's entirely accurate to say that. The media wasn't welcome to attend the actual ceremony, but we did get to hang out with the soldiers and their families before the ceremony started. It affected me deeply. I could only imagine how I would have reacted had I been allowed to stay for the whole thing.
You hear it all the time on the news...another 50 soldiers are deployed, or another 100, or another 1,000. You may see some of their faces splashed across the television screen, but it isn't the same as standing in a room with dozens of them, and hundreds of their family members. It isn't the same as hearing them tell you why they decided to join, what emotions they're running through as the days between them and their deployment diminish, and just how hard it will be for them to leave everything behind...knowing they may not ever make it back. You see the spouses hugging and kissing...holding posters and crying...but it's not the same as experiencing it.
I am not brave. Flat out...not brave at all. I'd never last a day in the military. I'm a chicken. I couldn't do what they do, and what so many thousands of brave men and women across the country do every day.
But I am so thankful that they're doing it for me. That they're giving up everything and potentially putting their lives on the line, so that I can sit in my family room and type this post.
Someone is in a bunker right now, dodging bullets and bombs, covered in dirt and sweat, with a hundred pounds of gear on, and I'm sitting in a nice warm house, typing on a lap top...and watching TV. It hardly seems fair that the only time we take the time to thank these people is on the Fourth of July, Veteran's Day, Memorial Day, or any other day the Government tells us we should take a minute to reflect.
So, to the 35 men and women that I had a chance to meet today...
THANK YOU.
Thank you for your bravery, for your sacrifices, and for protecting me, my loved ones, and the freedom we all enjoy.
I shall forever be grateful...
and forever indebted.
I went to my first military send off today. Actually, I'm not sure it's entirely accurate to say that. The media wasn't welcome to attend the actual ceremony, but we did get to hang out with the soldiers and their families before the ceremony started. It affected me deeply. I could only imagine how I would have reacted had I been allowed to stay for the whole thing.
You hear it all the time on the news...another 50 soldiers are deployed, or another 100, or another 1,000. You may see some of their faces splashed across the television screen, but it isn't the same as standing in a room with dozens of them, and hundreds of their family members. It isn't the same as hearing them tell you why they decided to join, what emotions they're running through as the days between them and their deployment diminish, and just how hard it will be for them to leave everything behind...knowing they may not ever make it back. You see the spouses hugging and kissing...holding posters and crying...but it's not the same as experiencing it.
I am not brave. Flat out...not brave at all. I'd never last a day in the military. I'm a chicken. I couldn't do what they do, and what so many thousands of brave men and women across the country do every day.
But I am so thankful that they're doing it for me. That they're giving up everything and potentially putting their lives on the line, so that I can sit in my family room and type this post.
Someone is in a bunker right now, dodging bullets and bombs, covered in dirt and sweat, with a hundred pounds of gear on, and I'm sitting in a nice warm house, typing on a lap top...and watching TV. It hardly seems fair that the only time we take the time to thank these people is on the Fourth of July, Veteran's Day, Memorial Day, or any other day the Government tells us we should take a minute to reflect.
So, to the 35 men and women that I had a chance to meet today...
THANK YOU.
Thank you for your bravery, for your sacrifices, and for protecting me, my loved ones, and the freedom we all enjoy.
I shall forever be grateful...
and forever indebted.
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