Random Thoughts

When I see our men and women in uniform, I see my brother, my father, my uncles and aunts-all those in my family who have served our country with honor. Now I will see my nephew as well. A young man like no other-strong, confident, special. He is more like my little brother (who’s not so little any more) than my nephew. He was born just before my 9th birthday and grew up alongside me. As long as I can remember he has been telling me one day he would grow up and join the Marines (adding further proof to the theory that Marines are born and not made). Now he has decided to put that long ago plan into action.

Sure I worry about him, but I was going to do that any way, and neither one of us would get very far if we lived our lives afraid. I won’t embarrass him with the details of his childhood. Although, I do have some pretty good blackmail photos (hint, hint), but I did want to take this moment to tell him and all of you how very proud I am of him. He has come so far; he still has a lot to learn, but don’t we all. I hope I will always have a place in his life because he means the world to me, but I also know there comes a time when you have to let go and let a boy face the world and come back a man.

So many of our soldiers are going through this transition as we speak. I also want to acknowledge the sacrifice they have made for us, for our freedom and our country. It doesn’t matter if you agree with the current war or not, what matters is, we never forget the men and women who give their lives and their freedom in defense of ours. May we always remember those who have the courage to dedicate themselves to the service of our nation. They are the heroes in times of war and in times of peace that put our needs above their own. Tonight, when you go home safe and sound and lay your head down to sleep, just for a second, forget about all the problems you have, and think of them, maybe then in that brief moment your problems won’t seem so big anymore.

May God bless all those who serve our country wherever they may sleep tonight.

For information on donating a care package to our Marines overseas, visit http://www.USOCARES.org or click here to read more in the USMC Press Release.

This entry was posted on Thursday, April 3rd, 2003 at 12:19 pm and is filed under Main. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.