Matty O'Blackfive posts a letter from a Marine LtCol, and I just have to quote the passage he highlighted:

“As I award these young men their medals as they stand in front of me in their combat gear, sweaty, dirty and so very young I am struck by the purity of their service to our nation and to each other. They accept the recognition but more often than not are embarrassed by it, and always concerned more for the welfare of those wounded along with them. They personify those things that so many people speak of but can never really know; the feeling of camaraderie, the commitment to the point of death to the men around them, and the unspoken hardness of their patriotism. God they are a blessing to me… and I feel so unworthy to stand in front of them to offer them such a small token. I feel inadequate and humbled to be in their shadow, regardless of their age and I walk away feeling so damned honored to be with them.”

That paragraph gave me the weirdest feeling. Being ex-Navy, I remember what it was like to have people give me that "thank you for saving my country" look, and thinking to myself - "Huh? I'm just doing my job."

Now that I'm a civilian again, I keep looking at the troops & thinking "Thank you for saving my country", even though I KNOW they're thinking "Huh? I'm just doing my job".

They'll understand when they're older.

Posted by: Harvey at 07:28 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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