thank a soldier

I was sitting on a plane, on my way home to Pennsylvania, when a lightning bolt struck my brain and I franticly penned this blog. This is the finalized version, after translating my hurried scribble, unique shorthand and arrows crisscrossing the pages. Here goes.

Here’s a question for the quasi educated minds; what makes a young person, from any walk of life, sign up to be a soldier? What makes them so different from the thousands of other newly high school graduates who in just a few months after graduation, have pictures floating around the internet of them passed out on a ratty couch in some frat house with sharpie scribbles on their faces?  Instead of college late nights and exam cramming, these young adults sign up for dirt, sweat, crappy food, gas chambers, 90 kilometer marches with 30 pound bags on their backs.

These young men and women choose to become responsible adults, carrying on a centuries old tradition of honor, patriotism and sacrifice. I wonder if the world would be a different place if more young people would choose to follow the code by which their counterparts choose to die. The code is:

1.       I will never accept defeat.

2.       I will always complete my mission.

3.       I will never leave a comrade behind.

4.       I will never give up.

These absolutes signify responsibility, perseverance, and compassion.

 Think about those young people who are willing to give up their weekends, holidays, sleep, good food and friendships to protect your freedoms. They are the fearless warriors who are willing to do violence so that we civilian Americans can sleep peacefully at night. God bless and don’t forget to thank a soldier.