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The following was posted by "edclinchsaint", back in March of this year (2006). It was entitled, "A Great Idea for a Blog---Sports and Real Life"
This was a significant (but not the entire) part of it:
The reason why we all are comfortably bloggin' away and speculating about the NFL draft, Bonds and doping, the value of the WBC, why people laugh (in disgust) at Bode Miller commericials, how Tiger's wife is whatever, and why my team is the best and will make a tournament run is:
The United States has lost approximately 1,000,000 soldiers to make us this free nation!
Since the invasion of Afghanistan October 7th, 2001, our nation alone has lost over 2500 soldiers to maintain our liberties and peace.
What has happened in sports since that date is all because of the patriots of the Revolution, War of 1812, the Indian wars, the Mexican-American War, the US Civil War, the Spanish-American War, WWI and II, the Korean Conflict (war), the Vietnam War (60,000 dead is a nasty conflict), the Persian Gulf War, and now the "Long War". Not to mention all the military deaths in peace time, like the more than 200 Marines killed in Lebanon by a terrorist attack in 1983.
We are really desensitized and ungrateful if we do not do more to remember our troops and their sacrifices. Especially on this Fox Blog Site. Do you understand what this means? 2500 souls have gone on, including Pat Tillman, a tremendous athlete, to their Maker since 2001 (not counting our innocent civilians lost in two hours of shock and awe) in order for us to act like the world is fine and all is well. Well, all is not well.
I am not trying to say that we cannot lose ourselves in the revelry of sport and the love of the games that we profess; what I want to do is recognize and appreciate what we enjoy beyond the trite and the glib, the trivial and the puerile.
Well, the subject has come up again lately on the blogosphere, and here is a chance to add a bit more...
Try to see the common themes in the following bio posts from AP News, other than the fact all their names start with "S" and they are from my home state of Indiana. On a Friday night of peaceful baseball of the US, these gentleman are not forgotten!
Who else may join them in agony this weekend? Let us pray...
| 19 | Army | Dead | U.S. | ||
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Army Spc. Greg Sanders, the son of a Navy sailor, was enamored with military life since he was very young. Sanders began wearing combat fatigues at age 2, his uncle Rick Knight said. In his junior year at Hobart High School, where he ran in track and cross country, Sanders committed to join the Army immediately after graduation. "He wanted to be a soldier. He was born to be soldier," said his mother, Leslie Sanders. Sanders, 19, of Hobart, Ind., was killed in sniper fire March 24. Sanders was married, with a 14-month-old daughter.
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| 20 | Army | Dead | U.S. | ||
| Steven Sirko used to talk about becoming a history teacher and a football coach. But the last time the family heard from him, he said he was happy in Army and never wanted to leave. "He told me he wanted to be a lifer," said his stepbrother, Jason Farley. Sirko, 20, of Portage, Ind., died April 17 in his sleep in Muqdadiyah, Iraq. The combat medic was based at Fort Benning. Sirko, a former high school football player, wrestler and swimmer, decided he wanted to fight terrorism after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. He met another medic, Virginia, in training and they were married in October. "He was very popular. The girls were crazy about him and the guys respected him. Steven had the type of personality where, when you met him, you fell in love with him," said his father, Rick Sirko. Steven Sirko had been offered a chance to join the Army's Special Forces and remain stateside, but he wanted to be deployed near his new wife in Iraq. "Steve was never without a smile," said Sgt. Gregg Campbell. "You could always count on him to lighten the mood." | |||||
| 20 | Army | Dead | U.S. | ||
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When he was 11, Nathan E. Stahl's father and stepmother took him to see the Army Rangers at Fort Bragg. He was enchanted. "That's what he wanted to do ever since then," said Virginia Stahl, his stepmom. Stahl, 20, of Highland, Ind., died Sept. 21 when his vehicle was struck by a bomb in central Iraq. He was based at Fort Lewis. "He loved swimming, body building, he loved to ride bikes," Virginia Stahl said. "He was very physical, but could also write some of the most beautiful things." Stahl, a 2003 high school graduate, was sent to the airborne infantry for training, but was "ecstatic" when he later was able to join the Rangers, friend Dena Hemphill said. "For me he was my strength," said his mother, Towina Nightingale. "He was so loving no matter whether you were perfect or not." He also is survived by his stepfather, Rodney Nightingale. His girlfriend, Tiffany Metzler, 18, enlisted in the service to follow Nathan.
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| 20 | Marines | Dead | U.S. | ||
| James Swain didn't have to go to Iraq. But he believed in doing what needed to be done, so he volunteered to leave his post in Japan for the Middle East. "He was never one to hide," said Dave Peters, a scoutmaster who knew Swain for 10 years. "Whatever needed to be done, he was going to do it." Swain, 20, of Kokomo, Ind., was killed Nov. 15 by small-arms fire in Anbar province, Iraq. The son of an Army medic and grandson of a Marine, Swain was a life scout who was equally at home on his high school's theater stage as he was on the sidelines. As a statistician for the basketball team, he learned a 30-page computer manual in days and taught others how to computerize statistics. The 6-foot-tall redhead, who enlisted in the Marines after graduating in 2002, hoped someday to be a criminal profiler for the CIA or FBI. "I've always been afraid this would happen," said friend Joe Klemann, who met Swain in high school. "But he knew what was going on in Iraq and he went voluntarily." | |||||
Amen. I love these guys. They let me raise my kids, and work an honest day's pay.
And it goes way back before our flag existed...And perhaps beyond.
Think about our blessings. Count them.