In Honor of the Fallen

Okay...I just might ruffle some feathers here, but after leaving Landstuhl Regional Medical Center today and witnessing what I witnessed, I just have to get it off my chest.

Today was not the first time. Every, single, time, that I've had an appointment at Landstuhl, to include the appointments I had when I was pregnant with Brady and all of the trips after he was born, as I have been entering or exiting the hospital, multiple buses and vans are parked at the emergency entrance, which is also one of the main entrances to the hospital. Waiting for those buses and vans are more medical personal than I have ever been able to count. Okay? So there's some buses and vans and lots of people? What's the big deal? The big deal is what's being unloaded from those buses and vans and what's waiting to be unloaded, or who's waiting rather.

Inside lay the wounded, mangled bodies of the bravest men and women I have ever seen. Men and women who just arrived in Germany from Iraq and Afghanistan to fight in yet another fight...the fight of their lives. Men and women who are facing the most difficult, challenging, darkest days of their short lives because they have lost their ability to walk, or hold their new born baby, because they no longer have legs or arms. Men and women who will never again see the light of day or hear their wife whisper in their ear because they have lost their sight or ability to hear because of the concussion from an IED that detonated next to their vehicle. Men and women who are fighting for their lives and who might not live through the night. Men and women, sons and daughters, husbands and wives, fathers and mothers...

I believe that you should give credit when credit is due. Michael Jackson was arguably the greatest artist of all time, yes. I myself have danced and sang along to many, many of his hits. I LOVED watching him perform. He was THE master of his craft. I'll give him that. But, really?

People could purchase tickets to his memorial service?! All I've seen on the news since he died was coverage of his death, tributes to him and now this memorial circus. Enough is enough. I'm sorry, I didn't realize that the world has stopped turning! Why is Jackson's death, as unfortunate and untimely as it was, taking precedence over more important news. Why is this guy, who's never done anything to serve his country, or the "fans" who have followed him religiously for years, or anything or anyone other than himself the only piece deserving of coverage on the evening news?!?!

What about the 5,021 men and women who have died for your freedom, your life, liberty and your pursuit of happiness? Those men and women died not because they overdosed on pills they had to take because they couldn't cope with life, but because they VOLUNTEERED, to put themselves in harms way so you and I could continue to live life as we know and love it. And who could blame them if they did need pills to cope. How do you suppose that Michael Jackson would do if he had to spend days, months and years of his life away from his family, in a tent, or sleeping on the top of his car, or on the side of the road, in 150 degree weather with no air conditioner, and the sound of bullets flying by his ear or the crack of mortar rounds as the sounds of his alarm clock, watching his buddies that he's bled with, sweat with, laughed with and who have become his brothers, scream in pain as they've lost their legs, or arms, or held them in his arms as they took their last breath. My guess is that he, along with all those other "celebrities" we worship, wouldn't last a week.

No, those men and women that I saw being unloaded from those buses today were suffering so that freedom seeking people all over this globe could have a better way of life. So that Michael Jackson could stand on a stage, and wow the world. So that he could earn millions upon millions of dollars, live in the lap of luxury and then piss off all that God was gracious enough to bless him with. They were there today so that his fans could sit at one of his concerts and scream out their undying love for him and worship him even in death.

But, for them, there are no hysterical, screaming fans to greet them. No pomp and circumstance, no "friends" reading pre-written, carefully planned speeches, no songs being sung, no grand stage upon which their broken bodies were wheeled. For them, there are just men and women, who like them, have volunteered to serve a cause far greater than self. And thank God for those angels of mercy, who's hands will mend those broken bodies and lives back together. Thank God for those men and women who have sacrificed their bodies, their lives, so that we can continue to sit comfortably on our couch and mourn Michael Jackson. Men and women, who have accomplished more in their short years than Michael Jackson could have in 1,000 years.

Men and women like SPC Robert Ehney, PFC Scott Messer, CPT Andy Houghton, 1LT Leif Knott, 1LT Laura Walker, MAJ Brian Mescall and SSG Matthew Taylor just to name a few, who are the best of our great nation.

A Soldier's Prayer

God our Father,

Help me to remain true to my ideals during my service to my country.

Help me be what is in America, the land of the free.

May I realize that I represent what our country stands for.

My uniform is a symbol of duty and valor both in peace and in war.

I take up arms to defend what all Americans hold dear:life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

Grant me the strength to live according to these ideals, the courage of my convictions, and the resolve to endure whatever dangers threaten.

With you at our side I fear no evil and resist every enemy, secure in the knowledge that you hold me in the palm of your hand.

Amen.