Today, as America refelcts on the event of 9-11, I can't help but wonder about days gone by. My Dad enlisted after Pearl Harbor and served in the Pacific for an enlisted that was "for the duration of the war and 6 months after". He always regretted not making it a career. My oldest brother was drafted for Vietnam and served during some of the toughest fighting in '68 and '69 and came home to people spitting on him and calling him a "baby killer". I was drafted in the last draft of Vietnam in '73 but never made it in country. I remembered my Dad's regret and chose to serve for 22 years and never regretted 1 day of it. Yes, most of it was during the cold war, in a Fleet Ballistic Submaring making 3 knots to nowhere out in the Pacific Ocean, 3 month at a time for a total of 12 patrols. Now my son, a Sergeant in the Army, has arrived in Iraq for a second tour. politicians are argueing about whether we need to be there and how fast we can pull out. My God people, have we forgotten the lessons history has taught us? Are we trying to re-instate United Stated isolotionism back to the days of World War I (look where that got us)? RIGHT OR WRONG, WHEN OUR BROTHERS, SISTERS, FATHERS, MOTHERS, SONS AND DAUGHTERS GO INTO HARMS WAY, WE AS A NATION, NEED TO STAND UP, STOP OUT POLITICAL BICKERING AND GET THE JOB DONE AND THEN, AND ONLY THEN CAN WE COME HOME WITH HONOR...
