Happy Memorial Day

About two or three weeks ago, I talked to a good friend of mine on the phone.  He called me from Hawaii.  Hawaii was a stopover on a much longer trip for him.  I hadn’t talked to him in nearly 4 years, and it was a gift to hear his voice on the other side of the wire.  We spoke for quite a bit, catching up and all that jazz.  We talked about life, about careers, about family…and about plans for the future.  Like I said, hearing his voice was an absolute gift.

I met him when I was in third grade.  That’s a long time ago.  He was a wild child…always has been, although he has been domesticated during the past few years.  He had a mullet back then.  Not just any mullet, mind you, but an early-80’s HEAVY METAL mullet.  We played soccer at recess.  He was really good.  He excelled as a goalie.  I remember his intensity and the way his long hair flapped in the wind as he ran.  He walked the line even back then.

Today, he is a Gunnery Sargent in the United States Marine Corps.  When I spoke to him a few weeks ago, he was headed to the Middle East.  He talked about “his guys,” the people who the USMC entrusted him to lead.  There was courage and there was passion in his voice.  He is proud of the men and women with whom he works. 

Today, he is somewhere in Afghanistan.  He is somewhere remote.  He is but one of many who will be making their way over there in the coming months.  When I sat down to eat dinner with my wife and my boys this evening, we went through our normal gratitude ritual.  When it was my turn, I could only think of my friend, on the other side of the planet, doing his part to make the world a better place.  Policies and politics aside, he does what he does because he believes the world will be better for it.  That is admirable, and it is noble. 

I thought about him, I thought about my father-in-law, I thought about friends and colleagues at work, and I thought about other friends from my youth who have all worn or still wear a uniform in service to my country, the United States of America.  I thought about them, and I was humbly proud of their sacrifices. 

Thank you…all of you…out there somewhere.

I am grateful for you.  I am grateful that you are still here with us.