Thanks to Those Who Serve (originally posted May 3, 2011)

 
On Monday night, May 1, 2011, President Obama announced that United States Special Forces had killed Osama bin Laden.  Along with the rest of the nation, I rejoiced.  I am thankful for the courageous Navy SEALS who conducted the operation; we will never know the names of these dedicated professionals.  But hearing the news brought to my mind many other memories.  Mostly, I remember those who have served and continue to serve:
--I remember my friend Chris who worked for me during a past assignment in the Air Force.  Chris has deployed four or so times since 9/11, and has always been in harm's way.  During one deployment, he had the very dangerous job of training Iraqi Police.
-- I remember my friend Neal who worked at the American Embassy in Nairobi when it was bombed by terrorists.  Neal earned the Airman's Medal that day for rescuing numerous injured victims from a bombed, burning, and unsound building.
-- I remember my friend Dave, who was killed in front of me during a training scenario when we were working together at a base in the U.S.  This was one of the most sobering and shocking events of my life, and I still think about him a lot.  I was allowed to escort Dave's body back to his burial in Iowa and was honored to present the American Flag to his parents.  I could barely choke out the words "on behalf of a grateful nation" as I handed the trifolded colors to his grief-striken parents.
-- I remember a Naval officer I attended the Armed Forces Staff College with, who served on the USS Cole when it was bombed in Aden Harbor.  Along with his subordinates, this officer saved the ship from sinking, even though they had just lost 19 shipmates, and were battling fires and a gaping hole in the side of their ship.
-- I remember one my instructors at Armed Forces Staff College, a  burly Army special forces colonel, who has suffered nerve damage during the first Gulf War, after exposure to unknown chemicals in one of Saddam's weapons locations.  This warrior was spending the rest of his life with the effects of the poison he had been exposed to.
-- I remember standing on the flightline at Balad Air Base, Iraq in the "honor cordon."  For every Army, Air Force, Marine, or Navy member killed in Iraq, those of us stationed at the base would form two lines to allow our deceased comrade's casket to pass between us as we saluted silently. 
-- I remember seeing the shattered body of a young Air Force technical sergeant (whom I had never met) who was in my group in Iraq.  She was gravely injured when the vehicle she was in hit an IED.  The surgeons held out just a little hope that she would even survive the flight to the hospital in Germany.  But miraculously, she recovered in spite of significant internal injuries. 
-- I remember that everytime I am in Washington D.C., I must take a trip to Section 60 of Arlington National Cemetery.  This is where you will see the final resting places of those killed in on-going operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.  There is a father of a young Marine who visits his son there every day.  If you go to Arlington and happen to see him there, please remember to thank him for his and his son's sacrifice.
In all the years I was in the military, my life was never in serious danger.  Yet I served alongside some of the most honorable, and most courageous humans imaginable.  As we all rejoice that the founder of an evil organization, Al Quaeda, is now dead, let us remember to thank those who continue to keep us safe.

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