May 21, 2005

Everyone at Move America Forward,

Today is Armed Forces Day, and at the end of the month many will be observing Memorial Day with family and friends. Many will be celebrating with backyard barbeques, many will be going to spring weddings that are so popular this time of the year, as young couples begin a new life together.

Memorial Day to others is a solemn reminder of the high cost of freedom. A few Mothers and fathers will never be able to hug their sons and daughters; never able to see them raise families of their own. A spouse now has to spend the rest of her life without her eternal companion. Children are now with out a father or mother; they will never experience what life could be like if their parent had lived.

A daughter will never have the honor of having her father walk down the aisle on her arm on that special day; her wedding. A son will never be able to play catch with his father, who cannot teach him about sports, or life in general.

I write this because today I went to a memorial service for a fallen soldier who was killed just days ago when two rockets slammed into the base. The attack could have killed any one of us; it could have killed me, since it struck just five hundred meters from my position.

Those who serve on the front lines of freedom know all to well why we serve and what this conflict means to all of us. Freedom is a word that we speak of all to easily. We forget that freedom has a cost, and many young men and women are bearing that cost with their life!

The young soldier who was memorialized today, had hopes and dreams for himself. He now will never get to play catch with his young son, nor will he be able to walk down the aisle with his two daughters on their special day, or share his love of music with them.

His children will always have the short memory of their father, but time will fade the memory of their father like the sunset over the horizon.

The soldier leaves a legacy of loving parents, a faithful spouse, and three young children barely old enough to remember the image of their father.

At times various individuals would believe the worst about our men and women in the armed forces, instead of the best of what this nation has to offer. A recent published report in Newsweek magazine about our men and women serving at Guantanamo Bay was badly researched, and proved to be inaccurate; the article still ran. An apology was stated, but it was too late; the damage was done.

Why are so many quick to find the worst, and believe the worst about our men and women serving in uniform? Serving to provide freedom not only for us but also for mankind. Why do we never here of the delivery of much needed medical supplies to a Women & Children's Hospital or of a Marine who was concerned enough to find treatment for a badly burned Iraqi girl.

There are many stories that go unreported of America's Armed Forces that you would be proud of, but you will never hear of them in much of the news media. You only hear the worst.

I for one am proud of my service in the United States Marine Corps, and proud to serve in the Armed Forces of the United States of America.

If I fall, I know we brought freedom to a troubled land and to millions yearning for freedom in Afghanistan and Iraq! And, that makes all Americans safer too.

I know what this conflict is about, not only freedom for America, but for humanity!