To All Veterans Past and Present

I think Patton said it best in a poem entitled "A Soldier's Prayer", "Let me not mourn for the men who have died fighting, But rather let me be glad that such heroes have lived."

This week America lost another one of its giants. Charles Lindberg died at the age of 86. A Marine, Lindberg was present during the FIRST flag raising on Iwo Jima (recently renamed Iwo To). This sparked discussion around "heros" and bravery and the continuing loss of "the Greatest Generation". The talk also went so far as to question todays military and could they have performed so valiantly under such conditions.

As Veterans we must remember that each one of us took our opportunity to follow in their footsteps. Don't let the fact that we no longer storm beaches or heavily fortified islands in the same manner detract from the fact that you volunteered yourself into harms way. The battlefield is more often different, but just as dangerous.

The simple act of voluntarily signing up for military service involves tremendous risk as seen by the mass media's reporting of conscientious objectors simply trying to pay for college, forgetting that their first obligation was to country. We had no idea (at least those of us that signed up during "peacetime") what lay ahead. For some of us that meant ending up in wartime. For others, the risk was just as great even when the time was completely "peaceful". The training still took place, the dangers still lurking, the potential for war constant.

While we continue to lose the people from my Grandfather's (a retired Marine WWII and Korea vet) generation, they are being replaced by volunteers willing to risk their lives so that others may continue to live a life most take for granted. Let's be sure to honor the passing generations, but not at the expense of those walking in the footsteps of giants.

My Rights - Your Wants

“He is a man of sense who does not grieve for what he has not, but rejoices in what he has.” —Epictetus

A Right is something that costs others nothing. A Right is part of being, it is not something purchased. I can't follow the line of thought that there exist "rights" that must be funded by taxpayer dollars. Those are not Rights.

While it's certainly comforting to think of "free" government programs that provide "rights" to the public, they are far from free and even further from Rights.

Liberty for Free

Nothing like having someone else supply you the opportunity for liberty.

Iraqi People need to finish throwing off the chains of tyranny. The biggest disappointment for me is that the Iraqi people haven't stepped up. At some point, and I base this on not only our history (in getting away from Geo. III), but many other places as well, France, Russia, et al., the People end up taking responsibility for themselves and rise up. At some point, they look around and see the things happening on TV or listening on the radio or viewing pictures or reading newspapers and pamphlets that life doesn't have to mean living in mud huts while the emperor sports new clothes. At some point, everywhere, people discover liberty and will go to any length to achieve it. Unfortunately, we didn't do a good enough job of showing them that side of what it is we're doing there. They see the violence, not the liberty being offered them. It will take a generation or two or three to get them into the proper reference. It took at least five-years after the end of the Revolutionary War to come to terms with a Constitution. It takes time. Revolution also takes much more than a half-hearted effort. It takes an effort that requires conviction; a conviction I'm not sure they yet have.

Spazengers

I'm coining a new term, at least I hope to; spazenger. A spazenger is the all-to-familiar can't-wait-to-wait airline passenger.

They're the ones that absolutely can't wait for the person in front of them to use the open check-in kiosk, "there's nobody using that. Are you going to use it? Look, no one's using it."

They're the ones providing the extra bins in the security gauntlet for you to place your belongings in. If you're not fast enough, they do a rope-a-dope routine trying to figure out if they can get around you without you noticing. You're obviously too slow unpacking your laptop and removing your shoes, you wouldn't possibly notice the person behind you becoming the person in front of you.

They're the ones getting to the gate before the gate agents arrive. They wonder off to burn some time returning to the gate during the pre-board boarding process. The spazenger is the one that rushes to the front of the line wondering if his section has already boarded.

The spazenger takes on many forms, a few of which I've described. Feel free to supply your own definition. If you've ever traveled, you've undoubtedly had a run-in with a spazenger.