“I Want to Speak of Warriors”
By Paul Mays
I want to speak of warriors. A long time ago I stepped from a plane onto a strange new land along with several dozen others. As we stepped down the ramp we all had a fear that ripped at our guts and just as we tried to figure out where we were to go and what we were to do , along came a truck filled with body bags to fill the plane for its return flight. I saw in the eyes, of those that had been sitting with me and speaking of how now that this one or that one was now in country the enemy would just turn and run, a panic that caused them all to go dead quite.
War is not pretty. War is not a great thing that young men strive for. War is ugly, dirty, smelly, and causes the soul to numb. But War is a price a nation, and the children of that nation, sometimes must pay.
When others make efforts to destroy all that make life, liberty and freedom possible then a people must stand and loose the dogs of war.
Today we are at war. Not the war of our forefathers but a war of a new nature. This war we find ourselves in is never the less a war that in many ,many ways is larger than any war we have every found ourselves in. If we take the words of our enemy at face value and we consider that 2 % of the Islamic world have sworn to kill my son, my family, you, your family and all that hold freedom as a fundamental right of men then we are looking at an enemy that is larger than Germany, Japan and Italy armies combined.
Today we are in several battles. We have men and women fighting in the Iraq battle, Afghanistan battle and even within our own country. These are not Wars. We are not in an Iraq War we are only in a battle there. No different than in World War 2 when we were in battles in France, Italy, Belgium, ect. .
But this is not a article of War but a article of Warriors . We today have men of Honor placing their lives on the line for the future of our nation and many other nations. These brave men and women walk boldly into the lion’s mouth while many of us stay behind and go about daily life as if nothing has changed. But make no mistake All has changed and we have just yet to realize it. These young people that step forward have been called stupid by some, have been told they are not capable of winning and told they are themselves terrorist, torturers, and criminals .
They are not. They are men and women of Honor that have vowed to defend against the Islamic Jihadist that have sworn to destroy our very way of life. These young people leave their blood on the field of battle every day for you, your children and all you hold of value. The very Rights many use to speak of how bad our country is are being preserved by the Valor of these men and women of Honor.
These are Warriors, These are the best of our nation and we have many that do not understand what they put on the line.
Coming up is Memorial Day and while we Honor those who fell in wars gone by we should also stop and remember those that stand in the line of fire in the hope that our next generation will have the right to complain about the price of gas or to protest in the streets.
These are Warriors , These Men and Women of Honor and from this old war dog I salute all those that today step from a ramp in a land far away and watch as those that fell return to a home land that has yet to fully understand what is at stake.
