I have been incredibly busy and distracted, and, so, have not been able to blog. My deepest apologies to both of my readers.
Tomorrow I send two of my boys off to drill. Once a month, National Guardsmen (and Reservists!) head off to drill. The sarcastic among us call it being "a weekend warrior." Those of us who know and love them know that they give up quite a bit to practice rescuing us from the bad guys. Our oldest will give up a weekend with his kids. In fact, in June, when he "practices" for an entire month, he'll give up, well, the whole month, including Fathers' Day. Our youngest will give up helping us clean barns and trim brush. I guess we're really the ones making the sacrifice there! But, in the end, being a weekend warrior is tough. Tougher than you might think.
Let's talk about deployments. When a unit deploys, members put their lives on hold. They stop receiving their civilian pay, and, instead, receive the "massive" military salary we pay our soldiers. Do you want to know how many soldiers' families get by on food stamps? I didn't think so. Do you want to know about the stresses on military families and marriages? I didn't think so. But there is hope; read about it here and here.
Now, hope and help are, well, helpful. But the stresses and sacrifices these men and women make so you can sleep well at night (favorite quote here) deserve your eternal respect, regardless of your personal views on violence and war. And, if you can't muster some respect...come see Mama! She'll show you how....
2 comments:
Well said!
Mama don't need no training to set people straight!
I have so much respect for our "weekend warriors". My dad was in the National Guards when I was a child and it meant a lot of sacrificing for us. Of course there was no deployment to war when he was in, thankfully but I have had my share of dealing with deployment as well. Everyone sacrifices in order to keep this country safe. Our military and their families. You said it very well.
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