Patriotism is supporting your country all the time,
and your government when it deserves it."
- Mark Twain
There is little to say about tomorrow that
hasn’t been said many times, by many people.
There is little to feel about tomorrow that
hasn’t been felt many times, by many families –
brothers…sisters…parents…cousins, aunts and/or uncles.
There is an uncontrollable, and heightened
human chemistry when a loved one is in harms way. The busyness of the day masks the quiet, ever
present gnawing thoughts that sit beneath razor thin membranes of our minds,
hoping against hope for their safe return.
A lot of hearts...
Less than one percent of the American
population are on active duty, compared with somewhere in the neighborhood of
nine percent during times of war in previous decades. A relatively small number compared with the
314 million people who live here.
A relatively small number until you
consider that is 3.1 million men and women who serve at any given time in the
United States Armed Services. A large
percentage of these folk have been to the theatre of war more than once…many
more than three or four times. Each time there is an increased sense of concern, sometimes helplessness, in those left behind, as
they watch their family member depart.
Nobody wants the knock on the door…
I am a veteran of the Vietnam conflict, and
every day I was away, my family prayed that their son, brother, cousin and
nephew would have a safe return.
Everyday I was away, I thought about the things familiar to me in a
homeland I was unsure I would see once again.
Floyd Eberhard…
My wife’s father was a career soldier,
serving in the Korean and Vietnam conflicts.
He was a good man, a decent man, an honorable man, an honest man and he
was a patriot. You never heard of
him. You never felt the resonance of his
laugh, nor the clarity of his eye…the intellect he possessed, nor the gratitude
he felt to live in this land. BUT those
of you reading this blog in the United States were protected by this man…by
this man and so many others who knew life is not kind to all…not fair to
everyone – a man who understood the importance of work and discipline and duty for
others…for others.
His family – three children and a wife –
understood the sacrifice. They
understood the sacrifice, but in their humanity as with all whose people are in
danger, they prayed…they hoped…they endured.
Their family, like mine, was rewarded with our return.
So many were not…so many were not!
While my view of recent wars in which our
country has been engaged, is one of uncertainty, there is NO uncertainty
regarding the men and women who have volunteered to defend this country…willing
to make the ultimate sacrifice. It’s
hard to appreciate that some people are wired like that.
Privileged indeed...
We live in a land most of us take so much
for granted that it boggles the mind. As
we sit in front of our wide-screen TVs, strive to consume more and more things,
go to social events relatively unimpeded, and move through our cities,
counties, states and country at will…most do not appreciate what a truly
dangerous world we live in. Most of us
only know people in other lands by what we see on cable news or National
Geographic specials regarding other cultures…beautifully edited for color and
storyline. Life in this world, for the
vast majority of human beings…the VAST MAJORITY…has little in the way of “,,,beautifully
edited…” anything.
So for tonight when each of us goes to bed
and breathes a prayer for the day past…tomorrow morning when each of us gets up
to greet a new day…when each of us looks at our children or spouse or
significant other or speaks to someone, with whom we have a relationship of
meaning…surely thank God for the things we have.
But in this land…in this country, for all
its difficulties and flaws – thank God for the young men and women who have
been willing, regardless of the call and the era in which they served, to risk their lives for all we have been given.
To my brothers and sisters who have sacrificed time or life,
and particularly for those who are in ‘…arms and harms way…’
Thank You!
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