Stan and I were watching a program the other night on our ongoing war in Afghanistan. Stan, with his military background, is still keenly interested in military tactics, strategies and operations. This program was a documentary on one of the units stationed in the mountains of Afghanistan and what lengths they go through to fight the Taliban. I don’t remember the name of the program, what unit it was nor the names of any of the soldiers. What I do remember is how struck I was by the loyalty of our soldiers and their belief in what they were trying to accomplish. This blog is in no way a political piece. I am not endorsing our invovlment in any war. What I want to accomplish through this blog today is to humbly thank all of those men and women who stand in harms way, defending democracy.

Stan went to West Point and was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant in the U.S. Army upon graduation. He spent nine years serving our country. It was not an easy job, a high paying job or a job where rewards are freely given. But it was a job in which Stan took tremendous pride. His job was to support and defend the constitution of the United States of America. He took an oath when he was commissioned and he took the words of that oath to heart. He took his job seriously. I couldn’t be more proud we were associated with such a stellar group of people. To this day, Stan and I miss our time in the Military.

The documentary we watched the other night made me realize how very fortunate we are in the United States, especially our daughters. Watching our service men in the mountains of Afghanistan hit home how much our service members sacrifice to keep us safe. I am so very thankful my daughter is an American girl. Her rights are defended by men who have never met her and probably never will. The women of Afghanistan will probably never, in this lifetime, experience the freedoms our daughters have. Thankfully, for American women and girls or rights are defended. The Taliban will, hopefully, be kept very far away from this great Nation of ours.

There is no good answer to war. As long as there are bad men in the world there will be war. I say bad men because women rarely start wars. Women give birth to the children who become our soldiers and are sent off to war. Most women wouldn’t want to start a war, sending our children off to fight. This is becoming increasingly apparent to me as Zach is getting older and becoming interested in going to West Point. I have zero desire to see my child march off to war but the pride I have in him for wanting to serve our nation is unbelievable. The pride I have in our service men and women is just as unbelievable. They are a special group of people whose services we can never repay but whose services we, unfortunately, need. This is a special group of people who ask for very little. All I have to give them is my thanks. War sucks…there just is no good answer to war.

As long as there are wars and bad men we need to defend our nation and our children. I am thankful we have such a tremendous fighting force on our side. I am very thankful to the families who support their soldiers. I am thankful and proud to be an American. I will continue to offer my thanks to our military men and women. My children are safe in this great nation because of them. I will teach our children to honor those who give so much to defend us.

Thank you to all who give so much to keep our nation free. Your sacrifice gives all of us the freedoms we take for granted. Your sacrifice allows us to remain safe. So thank you for defending democracy.