04May Just a soldier?

Carol’s best friend Erin is in Germany and she called the other day. Erin’s husband is Chad, a Major in the United States Army – Ranger Division.

He has been over in Iraq for sometime now and was recently allowed to come back to visit Erin and their son.

So it makes you think of the sacrifice that this Dad AND family are making for you and I. Forget what war we are talking about or what time we live, instead consider WWII. Few could argue of the merit of the United States going to War in WWII. Some did and I am not going to talk about why and how we joined to war, but instead what sacrifices were made by the soldiers and their families.

First and American soldier doesnt make a million dollars. Most of them make enough money to live well and support their family. They have a good retirement plan and other benefits while in, but they arent putting the MAX in their 401K necessarily.

Second they are likely to be killed if deployed. There isnt a chance in the world my job is going to get me killed any more than going to the grocery store might. Site statistics all you want, but I am not asked to carry a weapon and look for bad guys all day long for my living. And these bad guys just want to kill me, my fellow Americans and many of our children – millions of our children remember. These are really bad – bad guys.

The police fight a bad guy who wants to live. He runs to get away. In Iraq many times they fight bad guys who arent even there and leave bombs on the site of the road or just want to kill as many of us as they can.

So back to WWII and the soldiers fighting overseas. When they die, they leave families back home. Kids without Dads and wives without husbands. Moms without sons – you get the point. They are doing this for some reason out of reach for many of us. Circumstances for some, but for others it is a sense of duty. In WWII you were likely to die when deployed, just as you are today.

In WWII those soldiers didnt ask to fight Hitlers Army or the Japanese. They asked to fight for our country, the same as the soldiers did that are now over in Iraq. It doesnt matter how much you or I agree with the way or dont. These soldiers, girls and guys, just like in WWII are fighting for our country – right or wrong. Without these same soldiers in every war in the past from the fight for independance to Korea and Vietnam, we wouldnt have much of what we have today. Did it turn out how each individual soldier wished? I doubt it, but they fought anyway.

So I guess the point is that it is a mixture of pride and shame that I hear about the soldier fighting in war. Shame that I am not there and that they are sacraficing more than their fair share and I sit here, you say what you want about you, but I sit here and complain that my AC isnt cold enough or gas costs too much. Pride that we have such a great country that can support these operations and do so much good in many cases and that ultimately these guys and gals are part of the Nation I help build each day.

So thank a soldier anytime you get a chance. I do selfishly to help myself get over the guilt of being such a fricking panzy. No excuses.

Thanks Chad, Erin and Luke it is amazing what you do for the United States.