All Gave Some...Some Gave All

"The best and and the brightest are not necessarily on campus or in the corporate boardroom right now." ---They are fighting or have fought, and maybe lost their lives, for us, the American people.

As Monday the 26th rolls around, Memorial Day, I sit in my living room sweating due to a broken A/C unit, listening to Billy Ray Cyrus' "Some Gave All." Here I am complaining about 80 degree heat in my house while our brave servicemen and women are overseas in the desert baking at temperatures over 100 degrees, putting their lives on the line for me....and for you.

"Take a long hard look (at our military). What you see standing out there is representative of the noblest strata of our society. They...are a small segment of our population that guard the national wall of defense. and as arrogant as this will sound...it's what makes them better than the average young man. Not better in a material, snide, or arrogant sort of way, but better as one who is doing something versus hanging out in a coffee shop talking and criticizing. "

The military, in my personal belief, is one of the highest callings that one can ever get, and it is not for everyone. All of our soldiers, seamen, marines, and airmen have been led to the choice in their life to serve and protect our America by different means. Some due to an undying patriotic desire to serve, some to start a better life for themselves, some to gain clarity in their person, some to define their character, some to carry out tradition, and some were even drafted. But all who arrived from the busses as civilians served as brothers and sisters in arms. Doctors, lawyers, chefs, riflemen, pilots, drivers, engineers, and many others all serve daily and have died...daily...for our right to live freely in this great country. 

"Anyone can talk about what should be done in a given moment, but most won't do anything about it. You see it every day in your television screens, all kinds of so-called experts, with great sounding titles and all kinds of articles that have been published. They're always ready to give advice, but never ready to pick up a rifle, ruck up, and close with the enemy."

All military personnel, past and present, should be honored today, especially those who have lost their lives fighting to allow us to choose where we work, to choose what kind of car we drive, to choose our friends, to choose our spouse, to choose our leaders, to choose how we practice religion, to choose what we believe is right, regardless of what others may think, and without fear of consequences. We so often take for granted this country, our fighting men and women, and our free lives. These people cannot be thanked and praised enough. But yet, they serve not expecting or desiring a single thank you. They do it because it is what they feel is right. 

"On my money, there are two kinds of men that walk the earth. Men of action....and all others. (These are) Men of action...I'm not talking about a random, haphazard sort of action, I'm talking about a deliberate, measured, and when required, intensely focused action. To be sitting in the safety of your home several years into a war, subjected to the 24/7 media coverage of that same war and it's brutality, and then to decide to go and sign up for the (military) says an awful lot about a man's character. To stick it out when so many in our society look daily for a reason to quit says a great deal about a man's heart, the support he gets from his family, and his ability to see a larger picture. Anyone can start, but not everyone has the heart to finish."

When you see a service member, what do you see? I'll tell you. You see brothers, sisters, fathers, mothers, cousins, uncles, aunts, nieces, nephews, the high school nerd, acquaintances, or in my case, several of my very best and closest personal friends. People that have the tenacity and courage to be members of the world's greatest military. Friends that I have the utmost respect and love for. Many of you have lost friends or relatives in conflicts seen round the world, but they did not die in vain. They died to preserve liberty, and to see the the United States of America makes it through to the next day in this uncertain world.

"Not one (service member) really wants to go into harm's way and risk it all, but their moral clarity won't allow them to sit back and let someone else provide the blanket of freedom that we here today cherish, and so many others take for granted." 

So do me a favor today while you stuff your face and watch the sporting events on your big-ass cable television in your air conditioned house. Stop for a moment and say a prayer for our troops, or if you see one give him or her a smile, shake their hand, thank them for their service--and let them know you mean it. They're here now and always have been and always will be. God bless them all.

"I have never apologized for being an American, and you don't have to either. We're number one, don't ever apologize for it, just be damn proud of it." - LTC Randolph C. White Jr., United States Army.

---Matt