I was ready to leave the beach…it was a nice break, but it wasn’t real life.
We left there and headed directly north to an Army base in Georgia. An Army Ranger friend was having a party and participating in an event so we decided to make it our first stop.
Many of the people at the party just got back from Iraq or Afghanistan, and our friend is heading over there next month. He’s been over there a lot, even been shot a few times. He has a titanium plate in his leg for crying out loud…
The event was a Change of Command ceremony. I’ve been to several in the Air Force, they’re always a little moving as one commander leaves his leadership position and what has consumed most of his time the past two years, and another one takes charge. In the Air Force it typically happens in a hanger…the squadron of 20 or 30 pilots and a few others stand at attention in front of jets. It’s a picture of our war-fighting capability—a few people and multimillion dollar tools.
At the Army Ranger ceremony there were no tools of war. Standing at attention behind the outgoing and incoming leaders were just men. There were of course no jets, but also no tanks, no artillery, no helicopters--no tools. Just 1500 well-trained, highly-fit men, all of whom would rather be fighting the fight than standing on that parade field. They are the tools of war...their well-trained bodies, their minds, their willingness and whatever they can carry on their backs.
It was a stunning picture.
The outgoing commander choked back tears reciting the names of the ten men he’d lost in his two years of command. Then he apologized to his kids for not being there, and complimented their mother’s raising of them.
Wow. Our Air Force people are gone some and work a lot, but we don’t lose many and our people don't typically have to concede they haven’t even raised their own children. We are feeling this war, but not at that level of stress and loss. We are removed from it with our outlying bases and our multimillion dollar airplanes flying high above the fray. Army Rangers are over there all the time doing America's bidding, and I could feel the sacrifice.
I was struck by the clear knowledge they were giving their lives for this. It’s always interesting to see what people do with their lives, but usually it isn’t so clear. People are into their jobs and families, just living their lives and getting by, maybe not thinking too hard on what they are spending their lives.
Those are the exactly the words that came to mind watching those men—They have decided to spend their lives on this. They've done all the work to be fit, strong, willing and able to do whatever it takes, whatever it takes, over and over again. And with all their battle scars they are not crushed, or even weakened, they are strong and fired-up and itching to go again. It was obvious to me it’s just what they do, like there is no other option. Everything else falls into place behind this mission--no compromises--family and even religion get in line behind it.
I’ve heard a lot of prayers in my life, but the one at this event about knocked me over. In the Air Force we have chaplains of all faiths, saying prayers that tend to be pretty generic and politically correct. This chaplain pulled no punches. He basically called for a holy war—in Jesus’ name, of course. He not only prayed the Psalm of David asking God to “Prepare their hands for war,” but he also called down God’s "fury upon our enemies."
Wow again. No love of Jesus? No mercy? Yeah, no F-ing way. You know the other side is praying the same thing, not realizing God bleeds red, white and blue. Yikes. I wonder what God is thinking about all this...
I hate it when people mix patriotism and God…like he’s blessed us and is on our side because we’ve been so good following him. It was one of the last straws weighing down my Christian camel’s back a few years ago. I gave this chaplain a break though…I don’t know how many dead or injured Rangers he’s prayed over, he might deserve to be angry. I suppose the Rangers appreciated the prayer, and truthfully, I actually thought to myself, “Whatever you guys have to think to get the job done.” I’ll let them have it. I'll let them have whatever reality they live in that fires them up to give their lives to this...
Why? Because I’m sleeping in a safe bed and driving around drinking a Starbucks with my radio blasting, that’s why. And although no one is making them do it, they’ve chosen to give their lives to going to war for this country. They might not even be doing it for noble reasons, they might just be good at it and get a bang off it, but they can have that too...
Why? Because someone has to do it.
The next day in the car traveling across the South we were listening to country radio and I had to fight back tears when I heard a pro-military, patriotic song bragging about how we can rage at our enemies and silence them easily. Yes, I suppose we can, but there is a heavy price. Are we even looking at the bill?
I for one, am tired of paying it.
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We had to cross Alabama, and ended up in Montgomery at lunchtime. Ummm, fried chicken and sweet tea one more time...
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We didn’t have time for much sightseeing, but wanted to take a little downtime every day, so we decided to stop at Vicksburg National Battlefield and Cemetery in Mississippi. We’ve visited a few battlefields from our wars, and it always takes some imagination to understand how things went down. Here the battle was over the river, control of the Mississippi was imperative to both sides in the Civil War. President Lincoln himself mandated that Grant clear the Mississippi of Southern strongholds.
Well he did easily, except for here at Vicksburg, where the Confederates were dug in deep. It took several attempts, a months-long battle, and finally a siege before Grant finally succeeded. The National Cemetery there has 17,000 Union dead...13,000 of them unknown. Countless Rebels are buried a few hills over, they apparently don't deserve the honor of the National Cemetery. The details were brutal. I guess it's always taken a lot of sacrifice to make this country what it is.
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I found that the farther west we drove the more comfortable I became. I know that is crazy and I didn’t give any state its due time, but I liked Mississippi more than Alabama, and by the time we drove into Texas I was feeling more like myself.
It doesn’t make a lot of sense, because really, how much does it really matter where I live in the USA, but I am such a Westerner. Every time I move back west after having lived east I am struck by it. I do not fit in the cities of the East, nor in the South. I am more relaxed and comfortable, the farther west I get.
So when we crossed the Mississippi Texas just felt plain good to me. The terrain started to open up, and I saw the big Texas sky. That’s why I know New Mexico will be okay…it’s the West. Since there is open sky, mountains, and a quick hop to the Pacific I'll be fine. It’s fun to live other places, but there’s just no getting me to change stripes I guess.
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One reason Texas is great is because people who are from there love it so much--they are all believers. We have several Air Force friends from Texas and it’s like it’s bred into them…they are proud of Texas and always plan to return. Why would they want to live anywhere else? Kevin always says he wishes he was from Texas and thought it was the greatest place…then he could buy a million acres for next to nothing, settle there, and actually believe he was in the best place.
Instead…we know better. Unfortunately so does every other Californian...hence the price difference.
I do like Texas…it’s just open, bright and BIG. It had to grow on me though, it was our first stop on this Air Force journey when we were first married and I was not impressed. I think I couldn’t get why it wasn’t more like California. Now I just let it be Texas. This time I got so carried away with it I bought a pair of boots.
We spent three nights getting across it, and after Ft. Worth there wasn’t much to see but beautiful sky. We left green behind and embraced the desert...again. But about an hour or two before we got to our new home we entered some surprisingly beautiful, green mountains, and the temperature dropped 40 degrees. Nice. It jumped right back up though as we descended to our new town, and I decided I needed an ice cream to deal with my new reality.
So far New Mexico is working for me, partly because those cool mountains are always in view. In only 30 minutes I can be there.
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