Veteran's Day

As I was reading Blackfive this morning it reminded me of a day back in 2004. I was stationed at Travis AFB and many of the wounded GI's serving in Iraq on their way home to recover would stop overnight at Travis's David Grant Medical Center. Each night a plane with wounded service members landed a different squadron around the base would visit the hospital.

On this particular night, it was my squadron's turn. The call came at noon for volunteers and at 5pm we met at the hospital.

I wasn't sure what to expect. Who knew how bad the GI's were injured or what they had been through.

I walked into the first room and there lay a young man barely 20 years old, pins in his leg and a bandage on his head. He smiled and said "howdy!" There went the ice and we spent a good half hour in his room just talking. He didn't talk about the war, he didn't talk about his buddies who were injured. He talked about building a school for the Iraqi children and how much fun they had passing out toys and candy. He talked about his Mom and how glad he was he was getting to see her soon. And then he fell asleep from the pain meds with a smile on his face.

In the next room was a Navy female. She was on her way home to Washington and ready to see her husband and children. That's what she talked about. She asked for some orange juice. We got her some and she smiled, said "thank you" with the sweetest smile and went back to watching TV.

In another room was a soldier with a hole in his chest. At first he looked asleep but when he saw us he motioned us in. He didn't talk about his family, he didn't talk about going home, he talked about the fact that he was scheduled to return to Iraq in 3 months once he was healed. He talked about how scared he had been but with his buddies with him, the scared went away and the buddies became brothers. And that's how he referred to his patrol members- as brothers. Then the doctor came in to give him more pain meds and we had to leave.

The last stop we made was in the break room where two young men were sitting watching TV and playing a checkers game. Their eyes were old, shuttered, with memories walking across the iris with each word they spoke. They talked about their buddy who had died sitting next to them. They talked about huddling together at night to stay warm, about what it meant to be soldier. They talked about their separation date and how they were returning to Iraq one more time before their DOS. And they wondered aloud if they'd make it out alive the next time.

I wasn't sure what to expect when I went in. But I know what I came out with afterwards.

Each one of them touched my heart in a different way. I was amazed at their courage, energized at their love for one another, encouraged by their strength of will, and blessed by their attitudes.

You see, they didn't look at the war as a curse of their existence, they looked at it as a chance to do something right for everyone.

And that's how I choose to remember them. Not as wounded Soldiers, Sailors, Marines, and Airmen but as heroes who did the right thing simply because it was right.

Veteran's Day is about remembering their courage, their strength, their love for each other and all of us. It's about true sacrifice to keep freedom alive. It's about standing up for what is right, willing to pay the ultimate price to make sure right stays alive. It's about love, truth, honor, and belief. Let us not ever forget.

God Bless America and God Bless our Veterans each and every day.