Thanks Richard, for the essay, for your service, and your remembrance.
David Sullivan
1968 AH Sprite MKIV
CDR, Civil Engineer Corps, USNR
Commanding Officer, Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 24
>
> richard.arnold@juno.com wrote:
>
> > A re-posting of my essay from last year....
> >
> > *****
> > We're active duty, volunteers, draftees, reservists, and guards members.
> >
> > We've served in peace and in war, in the freezing cold and broiling
heat,
> > dug foxholes, slogged through mud, moved materials and supplies through
> > gunfire, walked point in a free-fire zone, jumped from a perfectly good
> > airplane into a hostile area, experienced the peculiar hell of standing
> > watch when it's perfectly quiet, and donned protective masks and
> > bio-chemical protective gear when the alarms go off.
> >
> > We've been in combat zones for month and years at a time, and served our
> > country for entire lifetimes. Sometimes those lifetimes were short.
> >
> > We've seen the balloon go up, and deployed on a less than a moment's
> > notice. We've watched our families grow up without us, lost our
families
> > because of our service, and our families sometimes lose us.
> >
> > We've been sent on combat missions and peacekeeping missions, and train
> > constantly. We drive tanks, ride in infantry vehicles and trucks; we
fly
> > planes, pilot ships, and hump rucks. We shuffle papers, move supplies,
> > turn wrenches, target guns, and perform medical services. We gather
> > intelligence, drop bombs, shoot missiles, run commo, and form
perimeters.
> >
> > We kill the enemy. We may not want to, but we do what is necessary to
> > accomplish our mission: To be prepared -- at all times -- to protect the
> > interests of our country. And we do this so that you never have to face
> > the horror of taking a life, or seeing a friend die, or place yourself
in
> > harm's way.
> >
> > We give our lives.
> >
> > We've seen the world change because of our efforts, and been slighted
> > because of those efforts. Some have said that idealism is dead, that in
> > today's pragmatic times, folks are too practical to sacrifice for a
> > concept. We do. In peace and in war, we do.
> >
> > Sometimes we're remembered and thanked; given a parade, a flag, or a
> > salute on special occasions, or on holidays. Sometimes we're an
> > inconvenience; more often, and worse, we're taken for granted, as a
> > constant. We don't expect gratitude, we don't need to be glorified or
> > pitied, we don't seek special honors. We do what we do out of love for
> > you, our country.
> >
> > We've earned respect, and simple acknowledgment of our contributions.
> > Please remember us daily. If you can't or you won't, and we're
forgotten
> > until the next holiday rolls around, we'll still be here.
> >
> > We'll still serve. It needs to be done, and someone has to do it.
> >
> > And we believe.
>
>
>
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