CryptKickR
Registered User
- Joined
- Dec 10, 2010
- Messages
- 338
Well, I was going to wait a little longer to write something like this. However, with people beginning to duck out for the holidays, etc., I think I'd like to post it before anyone else vanishes. Anyone in a hurry or without the patience to read this through, just skip to the last line of the post.
I know that TBG is an international group, and I do have respect, admiration, and gratitude for ANYONE who puts themselves in harms way to shield those of us who are not. However, over holiday seasons like this, I tend to think more about those who could be my neighbor, my college professor, or just the guy in front of me at the grocery store -- if they hadn't answered a call to protect us here and abroad.
Amidst continuing terrorist attacks here ( yes, attacks still happen here: Two soldiers shot, one killed and one wounded, in Little Rock, Arkansas in 2009 in the name of jihad ) and terrorist attacks overseas, roadside bombings, suicide bombings, the bad joke known as "Stop-Loss", and even the damn-near criminal treatment I have personally seen many family and friends receive at the hands of the V.A. -- Suffice it to say that amidst all the bullshit here and abroad, there is a select group of people that regardless of religious, political, or personal beliefs ( or maybe because of them ) stood up and said, "I will go."
These people can be sent anywhere in the world at any time, no matter where they are today. And no matter where they are today, their uniforms represent the most attractive target for everyone from the true-believer to the true-whack-job. Yet, these people wake up every day and ( proudly ) put that uniform on.
So, if you ( like myself ) have never served in the military, then please keep those who do ( and those who have ) in your thoughts and prayers throughout the holidays. Because while we spend time with loved ones, feast on holiday dinners, exchange gifts, and all the other stuff we don't usually think about too much, there are other people out there eating MRE's for their Christmas dinner, people surrounded by nothing more than a million miles of cold, lonely ocean, people straining to see computer screens that monitor our borders, people straining to see a million pissed-off North Koreans, people straining to see whether that debris might be a roadside bomb, and many other people who gave up their own comfortable holiday so that the rest of us could have ours!
For those of us who might spend a lot of time in-game with some of these guys, it might seem a little silly to stop and thank them, etc. -- Hell, it might even seem pointless. I mean, after all, we talk and play with some of these guys everyday, right? But the thin-line of difference between us and them is that we might be talking to them this weekend and simply reading about them next weekend.
Thank you to all of you ( current and past ) for your service. For those of you stateside, I hope your here to stay. And for those abroad, I hope your back here ( safe and sound ) soon.
Happy holidays to all of you!
I know that TBG is an international group, and I do have respect, admiration, and gratitude for ANYONE who puts themselves in harms way to shield those of us who are not. However, over holiday seasons like this, I tend to think more about those who could be my neighbor, my college professor, or just the guy in front of me at the grocery store -- if they hadn't answered a call to protect us here and abroad.
Amidst continuing terrorist attacks here ( yes, attacks still happen here: Two soldiers shot, one killed and one wounded, in Little Rock, Arkansas in 2009 in the name of jihad ) and terrorist attacks overseas, roadside bombings, suicide bombings, the bad joke known as "Stop-Loss", and even the damn-near criminal treatment I have personally seen many family and friends receive at the hands of the V.A. -- Suffice it to say that amidst all the bullshit here and abroad, there is a select group of people that regardless of religious, political, or personal beliefs ( or maybe because of them ) stood up and said, "I will go."
These people can be sent anywhere in the world at any time, no matter where they are today. And no matter where they are today, their uniforms represent the most attractive target for everyone from the true-believer to the true-whack-job. Yet, these people wake up every day and ( proudly ) put that uniform on.
So, if you ( like myself ) have never served in the military, then please keep those who do ( and those who have ) in your thoughts and prayers throughout the holidays. Because while we spend time with loved ones, feast on holiday dinners, exchange gifts, and all the other stuff we don't usually think about too much, there are other people out there eating MRE's for their Christmas dinner, people surrounded by nothing more than a million miles of cold, lonely ocean, people straining to see computer screens that monitor our borders, people straining to see a million pissed-off North Koreans, people straining to see whether that debris might be a roadside bomb, and many other people who gave up their own comfortable holiday so that the rest of us could have ours!
For those of us who might spend a lot of time in-game with some of these guys, it might seem a little silly to stop and thank them, etc. -- Hell, it might even seem pointless. I mean, after all, we talk and play with some of these guys everyday, right? But the thin-line of difference between us and them is that we might be talking to them this weekend and simply reading about them next weekend.
Thank you to all of you ( current and past ) for your service. For those of you stateside, I hope your here to stay. And for those abroad, I hope your back here ( safe and sound ) soon.
Happy holidays to all of you!