The Real Heroes

As I sit here listening to the Michael Jackson Memorial rather than my usual soap opera my blood once again begins to boil. The whole world seems to be in mourning over the death on a 50 year old pop star. People are spending money traveling to get out to LA in the hopes of a glimpse , spending hundreds of dollars on memorabilia and records and the news channels have had non-stop coverage. Throw in the mix an ex football player who was shot to death by his lover when he should have been spending time with his wife and kids who is being praised left and right. You know who else died that day? A number of our young , brave soldiers over in Afghanistan. Do you know their names? Have you seen their faces? Heard coverage of their lives and sacrifice? 7 more have died there since then. Can you name them? Do you know anything about the soldier who the Taliban claims to be holding?
We have had thousands of men and women give their life for our country in Iraq and Afghanistan in recent years. Tens of thousands more have returned with serious injuries. Thousands of children live each day without their parents , some never to return to them. These soldiers are willing to be away from their families for months and years at a time to fight for our country. How do we honor them? Drive down our streets. How many flags do you see being displayed on people's lawns? How many can say they have written a thank you note to a vet , sent a care package to a soldier , donated your time for any number of organizations that reach out to soldiers , vets and their families? How many of you know the words to the National Anthem and sing along at a sporting event?
The REAL heros are these brave soldiers and their families. THESE are the people who deserve to have the coverage on the national news shows. Show them , name them , tell us about them and end with a moment of silence. Let us see their flag draped coffin on the news. It's a sad society that ignores the brave men and women who are willing to DIE for your freedom and yet spend hundreds of hours praising a singer , actor or athlete as though they made the world such a great place. Entertainment does NOT equal freedom. We would have NOTHING if it weren't for our brave soldiers past and present. Wake up America!! If you can write , bake , sew , shop , pack or dog sit you CAN do something to show a soldier you care. Take a few minutes to go to www.soldiersangels.org and cruise the list of options and click one. Painless , takes so little time and very little money.

These 2 died on July 4th:
http://www.defenselink.mil/releases/release.aspx?releaseid=12787

7 more since then:
http://www.freep.com/article/20090707/NEWS07/907070303/7+U.S.+troops+killed+in+Afghanistan++Taliban+claims+to+hold+a+soldier



OK , I will now pass the soap box to the left......Thank you.

This holiday wasn't the same. I spent alot of time thinking back to last year camping at Meadow Lake and Brendan taking the kids to see the fireworks in town. We were waiting for him to sent to Texas and were trying to enjoy every minute we had left with him. I hope and pray that he'll be back , safe with us next year.
I want to thank everyone who has taken the time to send Brendan emails and packages. Brendan is a growing boy and LOVES to get his care packages. He told me when he gets them he skips chow hall and does nothing but graze on all the new goodies. I suppose my packages aren't that good. Momma has to send some dinner type items too. I am finishing a package now and have tried to cover all the junk food without filling it up with too many good things. You know it's driving me crazy!!!
We are hoping his deployment will be cut a few months short but as anyone in a military family knows , you never count on anything until it's here.
Brendan's brother , Bryan , has returned home. His wife will stay in Minnesota for a bit longer until they get to a permanent base , is my understanding. Haven't heard anything directly from him but I'm sure he is so glad to be back home.
One other note , a friend of mine's son , Lee , will be deploying this week for Afghanistan. I tear up just thinking about it. It takes me back to the day that I watched Brendan's face through the bus window as it pulled away from the base. He is being attached with another company that is already in Afghanistan and is hoping to not be there very long. Please add Lee to your prayer lists so that he may return home safe to his family.