Their War

Today's a pretty significant day! For some reason, I feel like their are others that need to be recognized, not me. Yes I wore the uniform, but there are others that have done much more while wearing it than I. This is their day, and their war.

What is a Vet?

Vets are the unsung heroes. The ones that are recognized do not want to be, and the ones that aren't would never want to be. Many say they are the lucky ones, most Vets will say the lucky ones are the ones that did not come home to carry the weight. They may be the mechanic. the waitress, the person working at the DMV or unemployed, but they all having something in common. They have seen things or done things that 99.99% of the world will never see or have to do. And then, there is the work that we do everyday. The grease monkeys in Motor T, the air jockeys, your diver's, PJ's, Doc's, Bubble heads, Surface warfare warriors and such. We nickname them, ground pounders, bullet sponges and cannon fodder to make it easier to do our jobs. Can you imagine volunteering yourself for a job that can and will potentially cost you your life??????? A vet can and has......not will....but has!!!!!!

A Vet is the member in the swamp during JWT ( Jungle Warfare Training) that tells themselves the heat, water and mosquitoes are worth it if it allows them save a life in Colombia. Who during CWT ( Cold Weather Training) tells themselves that frostbite on two fingers and an ear is worth it if it can save a life in The Albanian Alps specifically Djaravica while moving to Kosovo. The one who during SERE school ( Survival Evasion Resistance and Escape) tolerates sleep deprivation, starvation, hypothermia and stress not otherwise known accept in combat and tells themselves, I can do this, not for me but for my brothers and sisters standing along side me.

They are extraordinary and yet ordinary. They are usually quiet and may from time to time wear a small ribbon, medal or patch displaying what we call our colors. But in a true sense, we Vets look at all of you that have not or yet to serve and realize that you are our colors. You are our legacy and for that, this Vet will continue to put his life on the line to defend and protect those colors.

WE have lived our lives by the following codes

" Semper Fidelis" Always Faithful
"Semper Paratus" Always Ready
" Semper Vigilans" Always on Watch
" Semper Gratus" Always Grateful

And will continue to live our lives by the codes in uniform or not.

For that we give our Vets a day, 24 hours of our time to be dedicated to them. I would love for more people to give more, do more and say more. I challenge all of you to find a Vet today, say thank you and think for one minute what his or her story could be and what he or she has sacrificed for each of us.

Revelation

History was made yesterday at about 1020PM CST. I was watching it live and although the candidate I voted for did not win, I saw a couple of things that caused me to have a revelation.

1. My candidates concession speech not only stunned me, but apparently got a lot of stunned silence from the Obama fans as well.
2. I watched am African American become the 44th president of the United States
3. I was stunned by his acceptance speech, as were many McCain fans.

The revelation was this:

I have been privileged to see some amazing things, the birth of my daughter, the marriage to my wife, seeing 34, traveling the world, serving my country, starting a new millenium, watching man made machines land on Mars.

I have been horrified but other things I have seen, Genocide in Kosovo/Bosnia, death of children, the trade centers falling, a president's (Reagan) attempted assassination, President Sadat's assassination, the challenger explosion, Dahmer.

Through out Man's(and Women's) History, it has always been pock marked with violence. I have no doubt this will continue. And even though I have witnessed and even been a part of that violence, I have been hoping that a day would come where the violence I so adamantly think is necessary today, would somehow lead to a peaceful resolution in the future.

Although I had initial doubts about Obama, the fact that he was elected tells me that through our history of violence, whether in combat or civil, we have somehow become a country, after years or segregation, that is not only changing, but willing to change.

To me, it means that when I think to myself at night, have I done the right things or would I do them again, after last night's history making election I can now say yes....the sacrifice of me having to worry about my actions in uniform is far outweighed by my belief that what we do in uniform has provided the environment for us to not only to have an African American president, but one where I personally would give my life to defend him. Not because of his race but because he is an American. A president that WE as a people put in office, not because of his race, but because he was the right man for the job.

For those who know me, they now I am not racist. Brought up in Southern Louisiana, it surprises me that my parents were able to curb the influence to be racist that surrounded me daily in the boonies. Therefore, if you are to read this and think for a second that somehow this is biased, do not hesitate to post. However, I would like to make something clear....regardless of how you read this, it is not racist, I am not racist and I would got to my death to prove that I am not. So, if you read this and get to thinking that there is some underlined tone, then I apologize for somehow not wording it properly and would gladly accept any editorial remarks on how to correct it.

With that out of the way, I look forward to the "changes" that we are going to see. I look forward to hearing from all of you about Obama, and I look forward to the future that he will bring us.

As they say in the Navy when you shove off to a new port.

"Haze grey and underway!"