Thanksgiving

For me, Thanksgiving has a much different feel while deployed to a combat zone. In all my 36 years, this is the first Thanksgiving during which I was not surrounded by family members. Yes, I would rather be home in Maryland with my wife and dog, preparing our home for a small invasion of loving family to join us in giving thanks. (The photo at left is my dog Heidi, waiting for my return.)

So, this Thanksgiving is different for me, and my family too. I understand the dining hall at this deployed location is planning an impressive feast, striving for a traditional turkey dinner to get everyone in the spirit. My unit has curtailed its operations in observance of the holiday, so after an incredibly busy period here I find myself with time for reflection. After spending a few months here, in what must be one of the world's poorest countries, I truly have much for which I can be thankful. To my extended family and friends, thank you for all the support you have given me during this deployment. Every time I receive a package or card in the mail, or even an e-mail from a well-wisher back home, I feel the love of a Nation.

The United States is more than just a 230-year-old experiment in freedom. It is a special place in a world full of evil and fear and violence. This fight we undertake in far corners of the world is misunderstood by many. Our War on Terror may be a minor blip on the screen of history, or it may be the opening salvos of World War III; I don't know. To all my Humble readers out there, please understand why I take up arms in defense of the United States: I truly cherish our freedoms. During the brief history of our Nation, many of my brothers and sisters in arms have paid the ultimate sacrifice upon the altar of freedom, and for their sacrifice I am truly thankful.

I close this posting with a quotation from the 1983 movie Uncommon Valor. When his team reaches a crossroads and must split into two smaller teams, Col Rhodes (Gene Hackman) senses the emotions of the others and with a few lines from Shakespeare's Julius Caesar sums up his own feelings thus:

If a man were to know the end of this days business ere it come

Then the day will end and the end be known.

And if we meet again, then we'll smile

And if not, then this parting was well made.