Thankful

I'm watching Black Hawk Down on the FX channel, and it strikes me how much I appreciate the soldiers who fight for our freedom. As I consider the men and women who are overseas - or even just stationed in the US but far from home - I am feeling very grateful. In the movie mentioned above, a helicopter is downed by enemy fire inside Iraq (might be Baghdad but I'm not sure). The other troops try to get to the wounded soldiers - some of whom are dead - but can't get there due to all the bullets being rained down on them from the insurgents who are hiding out in the buildings up above and all around them. The helicopter is in the middle of an open area, so the troops would have to cross a big, uncovered area to get to it. In the meantime, other Black Hawks are lowering medics down into the area before having to fly off to avoid the rocket launchers the insurgents have. Oh, and as if that wasn't enough, they have to get the wounded men out of the downed helicopter before the insurgents running through the city get to them and rip them apart. 

All that to say.... the moment-to-moment crisis that the soldiers face astounds me. Who knows if this is a real situation, but it likely could be. I can't imagine being a medic who is lowered from one helicopter into another crashed helicopter, surrounded for 360 degrees by people trying to kill me, all while I have to work as fast as possible to stabilize critically wounded friends and wait for someone to rescue us. 

I have a lot of military people in my family: my grandpa was in the Navy in the Pacific Theater during WWII, my cousin was in the Navy, my dad and great-uncle were in the Air Force during VietNam (Dad was stationed in Korea because his older brother was in VietNam, and my great-uncle flew top secret flights during VietNam War), three uncles were in the Army (and all stationed in VietNam during the war), my cousin was in the Marines, my other cousin was in the National Guard and stationed in Saudi Arabia during the Persian Gulf War, and I've probably forgotten some. As you can see, military service runs in my blood on both sides of the family. I do, however, see the military as honorable and self-sacrificing, and I have great respect for their choice to deny themselves in order to protect me.

This movie makes me appreciate military service all over again. So many times, our freedom is defended by mere boys. The safety of America lies in the hands of 18-22 year old men! How easy it is to believe that these soldiers are brave, hunger for adventure and valiantly stare down evil. In reality, I would imagine that these young men often feel afraid, discouraged, angry, alone, doubtful of their survival, and anxiety the likes of which I cannot fathom. Yet they follow orders, run INTO the fray, and somehow ignore their inborn instinct to save themselves in order to fulfill a higher purpose. 

My meager gratitude isn't very much, but thanks - especially to the men in my own family. I'm proud to have so many family members in the military, and I don't pretend to have the bravery they did.