God Bless Our Troops!

I have been meaning to write this post all week. I confess that I enjoy watching the TV show on Lifetime, Army Wives. If you want to know more about this show, find out here.

I missed this past Sunday night and normally, I would not care, but I knew the show was supposed to be about someone important on the show dying. So Monday, I looked up the episode online and watched it on my computer. I WAS NOT prepared for the emotional roller coaster I was about to embark on when I started watching.

I don't want to give away anything about the episode in case you want to watch it, but I will say this - I CANNOT fathom losing one of my children, a husband, a fiance, a brother, or father in that way. Death is never easy for the living to handle. I believe faith enables us to see past the circumstances, but the death of a young person is ALWAYS hard.

As I watched this episode, I found myself literally sobbing.

If you know me well at all, you know that certainly does not happen often. I definitely do not cry readily at TV and movies. But I was so overcome by the sacrifice of men and women who leave their comfort of home and family to trek off halfway around the world to defend our country. They make a career out of making tough choices and putting their country before themselves. So much of war is senseless and controlled by powers much bigger than the average soldier. Yet, they go because they believe. They sign on for extended tours of duty because they believe. They re-enlist because they believe. They move their families around the United States and all over the world because they believe.

They believe in freedom. They believe in protecting the rights of women, children, minorities, religions and the oppressed. They believe that our United States of America are worth fighting for and want to represent the cause of freedom around the world.

I am proud to be a member of a family that has had a plethora of military veterans - my paternal grandfather was in the Army during WWII; my maternal grandfather was a Marine during WWII and fought in the Pacific, was at Iwo Jima and spent a year in Nagasaki cleaning up and rebuilding after the atom bomb; my father was in the Army; my step-father was an Air Force pilot in the Vietnam War; my uncle served in the Air Force; my father-in-law served in the National Guard. Each of them gave of themselves, whether in peace time or war.

As I watched this episode, the funeral and the flashbacks to the fighting in Afghanistan, I was so overcome with emotion. I feel completely incapable of expressing my utmost gratitude to those who serve our county with dignity and compassion.

For all of you who serve, I thank you.

For all of you who are the wives, parents and children of those who serve, I thank you.

For all of you who have endured the death of a loved one serving in the military, I thank you.

Words cannot adequately express my gratitude. I am thankful for your sacrifice and pray for your safety if you are serving in harm's way. May God bless you and your family.

If you do not watch Army Wives, I encourage you to follow that link above and watch the recent episode. But be prepared - have your kleenex handy!