Every American ought to spend a little time on a military post. The men and women in uniform, and their families, who support them, are an impressive group. My son-in-law is an Army Captain, so Ill declare my bias up front. We ask a lot out of the military. And, in a time of war, when servicemen and women do the fighting and dying, and their families suffer a home...a lot of people mistakenly, and unfairly, attach their own political motivations to what they do. Politics plays no role. Politicians...guided by a mix of hubris, opinion polls, patriotism, personal agendas, misinformation, and who knows what else...give the military its marching orders. And the military carries them out. Thats its constitutional role. Disagree with the politics, if you like. Thats your right. But support the soldier, the seaman, the Marine, the airman. I saw some of the very latest military hardware, at Ft. Benning...multil-million dollar things the defense industry is trying to sell. Prototypes, including the newest tilt-rotor plane/helicopter that could replace the Blackhawk. Amazing stuff. But all of it operated by someone wearing a uniform. Were fortunate to have our military. Like Col. Nathan Jessep (Jack Nicholson) said in A Few Good Men: ...we live in a world that has walls and those walls have to be defended by men with guns. Theyre our men and women. Our sons, daughters, fathers, mothers, friends. During the middle of our little tour, a canon fired. It was 5 oclock. Time to lower the flag with military precision and respect...all done to the sound of a bugle. Every person, in uniform or not, stopped and saluted or placed their hand over their heart. Even my 4 year old grandson, and 2 year old granddaughter. They love their daddy and will be old enough to really miss him the next time he deploys. That image spoke volumes to me. It makes you genuinely proud. It really does.
Posted on: Mon, 08 Sep 2014 16:13:50 +0000