To CES All:
I love quotes. I have a number of them in my memory. Most of them come from famous dead guys. A few of them come from my dad. While I can remember the good ones, or the ones I heard over and over, I don’t have many original quotes from yours truly. But one that I’ve been known to say (ask my kids) is, “You do what you really want to do.” Even I like to claim exception to this from time to time, like when I saw that I hadn’t written a blog in 4 months. All I can really say is “No excuse, Sir.”
But I can’t help but give one—at least for the past month. I took 8 days leave for a funeral which was preceded by EXPERT training in Nevada. Here I got to go through patrols, drive ATVs and humvees, and give out snowcones to parched SF airmen. This was all to help prepare me to deploy which I will do in September is all still holds up.
I’ll be going to Baghdad Int. Airport. When I tell this to people outside the military, I get a look of grave concern usually followed by, “Oh, I’m so sorry.” To which I say, “Please, don’t be. I can’t wait to go. That’s why I came into the military—to go where the action is.” About 20 years from now, who wouldn’t want to say that they went to the places in the headlines when they swap stories with fellow veterans at the VFW?
There’s another reason for me, though. It goes back to my quote, “You do what you really want to do.” I really believe that what we’re doing over there is important and just. That is, we have the chance to join the epic struggle of good v. evil when we defend freedoms and help protect human dignity around the world. When we go into places with some degree of risk and watch out for each other, it brings out the best in us. No matter what our jobs, whether it’s erecting building, diffusing bombs, handling materials, or doing chaplain stuff, we all leave footprints of accomplishment in the sand. I really want to do it, so I will. I hope you will too.
Press on,
Ch Mac
