Sunday, November 23, 2008

Beyond Words

This afternoon my girlfriend, a Sergeant First Class in the Virginia National Guard, called me to see something on the TV. Janis served an 18 month tour in Iraq. She had over 600 missions outside the wire with a civil affairs unit. Just outside the Green Zone in January of 2004, her vehicle was IED'd. Her interpreter Nahla, sitting behind her, died. The back of her head had been blown off. They were on the way to the Baghdad International Airport to pick up Nahla's fiance, an Army Lt. Colonel. Janis didn't cry that day. She was too busy calling in a medevac and securing the blast site.

Today she had tears in her eyes. Here's why......

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......whether you say oorah, or hooah, we, the veterans of the GWOT, share a common bond few others will ever understand.

A new administration is coming to the White House with hopes of making history. We who've made history wish them well. We pray that our sacrifices and successes will not be forgotten. We, for our part, can not and will not.

...and yes, I teared up too.