Sacred Duty

Every parent has a sacred duty to their children. Our duty is to nurture, protect and prepare our children to successfully navigate the real world.

Sometimes, protecting our offspring comes with a price. A small baby, helpless, crying in his mother's arms as she lay dying. A mother, sheltering her child against a vicious attack, protecting him with her last breath. In my mind, her last words, for nobody but her son, were "I love you, baby."

Requiscat in Pace, ma'am.

Letter From a Soldier in Afghanistan

Sarah Albrycht

It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us - that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion - that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain.

~ Abraham Lincoln, Gettysburg Address

A few nights ago, I walked a quiet mile with hundreds of other service members. It was a clear night in Bagram, Afghanistan. Although it was late, the birds were singing, perhaps roused by the unusual occurrence of people walking under their trees at the late hour. Soft voices broke the solemnity, but no words were discernible. Suddenly, as if on cue, soldiers, airmen, seamen, marines, broke off the sidewalk and lined the road, spacing themselves regularly and assuming a position of silent watchfulness. The honor cordon had formed.

Heads began to turn right as flashing blue lights appeared far down the road. As the vehicles neared, one by one, service members assumed the position of attention and rendered the hand salute. In the back of an open truck sat eight military members, and between them, at their feet, was a flag draped casket.

As I rendered my salute, I thought about the fallen soldier. I did not know his name, his unit or his home. I never saw his face or spoke to his family. I did not know why he volunteered for the Army or what he was doing when he was killed. But there was much I did know. I knew he had fought and died in an honorable cause, a cause that had little to do with our policy on Afghanistan. This soldier had volunteered to put his very life on the line in service to his nation and his brothers-in-arms. I see no more honorable cause that that.


In a column, Mr. Putney has again raised the debate about the sacrifice of America's "sons and daughters" in uniform. Some have argued that we must continue the fight to honor their memory "so that they have not died in vain." Others argue we must stop the wars to save soldiers from this fate. I think an essential understanding of what motivates those of us in uniform is missing in this debate.

We are not your sons and daughters, whom you must protect and defend. We are your sword and your shield. We are men and women who volunteer to place our lives on the line so you do not have to. We do not decide when or where we will be sent. We go. You are our advocates, not our parents.

We trust you to care for our families, to hold our jobs, pay for our equipment, salary and medical care and yes, to honor our sacrifice. We trust you to vote for good political leadership, to speak out against bad policy decisions and to demand public accountability. However, we do not count on you to explain the honorable character of our service. We are ennobled by the very fact we serve.

Our "high moral cause" is one of service to a nation whose principles we believe in. We miss the point of political debate when we distill it down to numbers of service member deaths. Debate should be about the policy that leads us in or pulls us out of war. I, as a soldier, am personally insulted when debate about war becomes not about policy, but about deaths, because it implies that my service is at best uninformed or ill-conceived, and at worst valueless.

I know my life is in the hands of others because I choose for it to be that way. I am not your daughter, a child who must be guided. I have made my choice and pledge my honor to it. I will thank you to remember that because we serve our nation, none of us dies in vain, regardless of the cause; end of debate.

Every day a new Marine enlists or an airman puts on her uniform is a reminder that our defenders come from people who still believe in our nation and the values it aspires to, as flawed as we sometimes are. War does not make our sacrifice honorable, death does not make our service honorable; service itself is our honor.

We, your American service members, do not see the cause for which we may give our last full measure of devotion, as our nation's goals in Iraq or Afghanistan, and perhaps that is the difference. Our cause is our nation, in all her beautiful, imperfect glory.

So on a dark night in Afghanistan we stood under a velvet sky of a million stars to honor one man who lay under 50. We never doubted what he died for. Pfc. Patrick A. Devoe II died for you, the United States of America. That, Mr. Putney, is no goof.

Sarah Albrycht is a Bennington native serving in the Army in Afghanistan.

Found via Kevin.

Don't Mess With Us

Americans don't like being hijacked.

It’s another Gird Your Loins moment for the Obama administration.

Somali pirates have now hijacked a U.S.-flagged ship with 20 American crew members on board - the first in “recent memory” according to military officials. The vessel is one of the DoD’s top shipping contractors. The vessel was taking humanitarian aid to Mombasa.

What will BO do?

When we get hijacked, we express our displeasure. Consider that a lesson learned.

Two graduates of the Massachusetts Maritime Academy are among the 20 Americans on board who overpowered the group of pirates that hijacked the vessel.

Somali pirates hijacked the cargo ship Wednesday hundreds of miles from the nearest U.S. military vessel in some of the most dangerous waters in the world.Late Wednesday morning, the military confirmed that the crew had regained control of the vessel by overpowering the pirates, taking one pirate into custody and throwing three overboard.

Lucky President*. Thanks to the resiliency and independence of the American sailors, he doesn't have to take a stand.

Man Down

Requiescat In Pace

GRAND RAPIDS, Minn. (AP) ―

A Minnesota woman says her son was among four Americans killed when two U.S. helicopters crashed in northern Iraq.

Ruth Windorski of Grand Rapids says she learned Monday that her 36-year-old son, Philip Windorski Jr., was among those killed in the single deadliest incident for U.S. troops in four months.

Disgusting Corporate Policy

Mark Beverly was one of two employees inside a Roseville Super America when a robber came into the store on March 26.

Beverly was cleaning the bathroom when he heard the store clerk cry out. He came out to find a robber attacking the female employee.

"I just jumped on his back and trying to hit his head and pushed him over the counter. I jumped back over and he was out of there," he said.

That's the good part. Here's the bad:

Later that day, Beverly returned to work only to be punished for his actions.

"I didn't think I was going to get fired for it," he told 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS.

Super America issued a statement, saying that ‘employees are never to take action that could endanger themselves or others. It’s regrettable this happened.’

SuperAmerica fired an employee for being a shining example of what an employee should be. He, quite possibly, saved the life of a coworker. He deserves a raise and a promotion, not disciplinary action.

"I didn't care about the money, I know Super America is insured. But I thought he was attacking her, that's why I jumped on him," he explained.

Here is the contact page for SuperAmerica.
Here's my letter:

To whom it may concern:

It was with considerable shock that I read about Mark Beverly's termination from your Roseville, MN location.

In case you are somehow not aware, Mr. Beverly rescued a coworker from a severe beating at the hands of a robber. This woman was being beaten when Mr. Beverly stepped in.

The fact that SuperAmerica has seen fit to fire Mr. Beverly for his heroism is disgusting and is forcing me to give my business to Holiday in the future.

Sincerely,
me