Redstate

In gratitude

By Ericka Andersen Posted in 2008 — Comments (14) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »

I owe this day very much to the veterans of our country. To the 21-year-old kid who just got back from a year in Afghanistan to the 90-year-old World War Two vet in a wheelchair in Nebraska. Most especially, to the ones who lost their lives, who paid for our freedom -- for standing by America and making so much possible. America endures and provides hope to so many across the globe. But that survival would be impossible without those who hold us up with their combat boots, iron discipline, and fierce dedication to something greater. They exist for something more. They are the beginning of what has become known as “paying it forward.”

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I absolutely loved this day. The air was perfect for a crispy November with sunlight dripping off the orange and crimson leaves – bleeding patches of light onto the Rock Creek Park trail floor behind my house. I drove among rows of three story white houses with black shutters and past a middle school sports team practice. I drank a steamy Starbucks vanilla latte, had Sunday morning girl talk with my friends and scrubbed my bathroom floors. This is a Sunday of freedom.

My Dad called me two weeks ago and said, “I have an American hero mowing my lawn right now.” Our friend Jeff, a 25-year-old Army officer, had just returned from a year in Iraq. He was back doing his old jobs, mowing lawns for the family business, returning to life as it was – but he would never be the same. We haven’t spoken much since he got back but he is different by his own admission – the reality of war altered his being forever. I don’t think a day went by that I didn’t think of Jeff risking his life in Iraq. I sure thank God that he’s home – to his mom, to his fiancé, to his country.

I have another friend gearing up to head over to Iraq next month. He is scared but he is making life as we know it possible. On a recent trip, I sat next to a Marine in his uniform with printed bags and combat boots. Whenever I pass a soldier, I feel as if I’m near living, breathing honor. No celebrity meeting could compare to shaking hands with a man or woman in the US military. I spoke to this Marine and asked him if he had yet been overseas. He laughed with friendly eyes and said he just returned from his seventh trip. “I’ll keep going back till they don’t need me anymore,” he said. Wow. We talked a little light politics and though he never revealed where he stood on that end, it didn’t seem to matter. “We have a job to do,” he told me. My plane was called, I wished him good luck and said thank you.

I wrote an article on Friday for Human Events in tribute to the anniversary of the US Marine Corps. The responses of appreciation I received were amazing. Most of the emails and comments came from former Marines who have been deployed all over the world. They were as young as 22 and as old (as far as I could tell) as 85. These men and women were so grateful to have their branch, a significant part of their identities, recognized and appreciated. To those men and women I say, no -- thank you.

When I tell a soldier thank you, it seems such a pitiful gesture in response to the great action they perform. I feel like I am offering an acorn in exchange for an entire forest. Nevertheless, the thank yous must come – often.

The war is personal to us all. We all have friends and family, husbands and wives, brothers and sisters – someone – who has been over there this time around. When your not “in it”, it’s sometimes easy to forget its happening. Skip the news, forget the paper, slink around in your own little jaded bubble. But we can’t. To the many veterans and active duty soldiers and Marines and sailors I know and to the ones I’ve never met – we owe you more than we can ever give back. Thank you for your sacrifice and your bravery and the character you show to help humanity carry on in a world that sometimes feels hopeless.

Today is your day but you deserve all 365 of them. As one of my favorite bible verses reads: “Surely goodness and mercy will follow you all the days of your life…” That is my prayer for each of you.