sometimes i wish i was in the military.

sometimes, when i'm around those who are, i can feel a little bit prouder of my country. i can feel like there are people out there who are working hard and making sacrifices to protect everything that i love.

sometimes i wish i was the one living in the desert for a year, so you didn't have to. i wish i was the one sleeping in a tent full of sand, the one dealing with unimaginable temperatures, a barren land with no trees or grass, a camp full of people who are far away from God and act that way. i wish i was the one berated for my faith, pushed to the challenge of defending my God. i wish i could serve my country like you do.

sometimes i wish i was the one living on a 360 ft long metal tube with 120 other people and no privacy, so you didn't have to. i wish i was the one breathing recycled air, crawling into too-small spaces only to get stuck for hours, eating boat food. i wish i was the one gone for weeks at a time, the one mocked for your Godly lifestyle. i wish i could serve my country like you do.

sometimes i wish i was in the military, and then i become thankful that you are.

i laugh and praise God for you, because if i was in the desert, i would probably try going for a run and passing out, suffocating in the sand. i would probably become so irritable from not sleeping because of the heat and be in a continuous state of grumpiness. i would probably shrink back from hurtful comments about my God, instead of defending Him like you are. i would probably shoot myself in the foot with my M-16, or even worse, somebody else. i wouldn't know how to perform surgical crichothyrotomies (i know that's not how it's spelled but i can't figure it out), put IVs in or take care of mass casualties. i wouldn't know how to protect myself from mortar attacks or hand to hand combat against insurgents. i wouldn't know how to drive in a convoy or avoid IEDs. I'm glad you are doing it for me.

i laugh and praise God for you, because if i was on a submarine, i would probably end up sinking the thing. i would probably go crazy with no privacy and purposefully get stuck somewhere deep inside the boat where all the cables are just so i could avoid bumping into people all the time or talking to anyone. i would probably pass out from the smell of recycled air or get high from too much carbon monoxide. i would probably pack way too much stuff and it wouldn't fit under my bunk and it just wouldn't be pretty. i wouldn't know how to load tomahawks or torpedoes or how to fire them. i wouldn't know that missiles have wings...or maybe i would. i wouldn't know what all the little buttons mean or be able to know which cable is connected to what and which are broken and when. i'm glad you are doing it for me.

i'm not in the military. i don't know what it is like to completely devote myself to the Army or Navy every single day for years. i don't know what it's like to push myself past my limits. i don't know what it's like to live with a hundred other guys and see the same people every single day. i don't know what it's like to be yelled at or beaten up or emotionally and physically fatigued to an extreme amount. i don't know what it's like to live in barracks, eat in a military dining hall (DFAC or mess hall, whatever you want to call it). i don't shop at a PX or NEX or commissary. i don't listen to huge amounts of profanity, breathe recycled air, or have sand covering every part of me and my gear.

thanks for taking care of that for me.

i am proud of the Armed Forces that protect my country. i proudly wear Army and Navy clothing everywhere and put patches on my bags and stick a decal in the back window of my car. i notice Support Our Troups items everywhere i go and wear a bracelet on my wrist and put a yellow ribbon on the back of my car. i do it for you. it's my way to serve my country.

i am proud of you, proud that you can take my place to fight for my freedoms. i'm proud that you do so with confidence and grace to the best of your ability. i'm proud that you are devoted to what you do.

thanks.