Allow me to clarify…it just doesn’t FEEL like we’re at war, because it’s only the soldier and his/her family that are truly sacrificing, not the average citizen.
I support the troops. No, I don’t think that can be separated from supporting their mission. I think the men and women fighting for America at home and abroad are performing a commendable service, one for which few would volunteer. I want them to win in whatever combat theater they face. I wish I could send each and every one of them a Thank You card. Having said that, my life as an American is so comfortable during this time that I can actually FORGET that it’s September 11th, arguably the most memorable day in American history since November 22nd or December 7th.
In my family’s fire safe is a set of unused war ration coupons that were to be used to buy food for my dad when he was a child. When was the last time you had to ration anything? The greatest difficulty anyone has had to face in recent memory is the availability of the Xbox 360 or Playstation 3! We don’t deserve to have it so good. No, I’m not about to kick into any of the anti-American self loathing characteristic of the liberals. I’m just saying that we’re blessed beyond measure.
There’s no such thing as a free lunch. Who pays the cost of our comfort? Right now it’s people like my friend Roberta, who took over the chore of raising her two boys while her husband was in Bosnia. There are several of my friends in the National Guard and Army Reserves from Bismarck who have been mobilized as well. I think back to my friend Tony, who served in the first Gulf War and has some shocking memories from there as well. Or my friend Nathan from New York, who told me the stories of room-to-room combat clearing out Falujah, and what it was like to lose two of the kids under his command. He gave us some on-board video of an IED striking one of their Humvees…I don’t even know how to describe it.
To the greatest degree it’s the families of North Dakota soldiers who did not come home alive, those who had to say goodbye to a father, son, boyfriend, or husband. I bet they remembered today’s date. I was honored to make the gesture of participating in the Patriot Guard rides for some of these men…but when everything settles down, they’re left with the quiet emptiness of a soldier who’s not coming home.
I can’t reach everybody thru this quaint little website…but if you’re reading this and have served, or if you’ve had to pray for a beloved soldier to come home okay, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. Thank you not only for the safety and comfort my family feels today, but all the years of safety that have preceded this day. My little 8 month old boy is sleeping securely next to me while I type, and I have no doubt that it’s because there are guys all over the world with M-16s to insure that evil doesn’t get even one inch closer to our shores to harm him. God Bless America, and God Bless the Troops!
The flags pictured above are flying at the ND State Capitol today. I’m sure a bunch of the atheist peacenik crowd would love to try to sue to get that “God Bless America” flag removed, but hopefully they’re still too busy licking their wounds from the fight to remove the Ten Commandments from the city of Fargo. I think all peaceniks should be shipped to Afghanistan to put their “War is not the answer” stickers and magnets on Taliban vehicles! See how far pacifism goes with evil men, and get back to me when they’ve renounced their ways. In the mean time, I trust the valiant men and women of the United States military to keep the forces of evil at bay.