Tommy Boy
I have a friend that is in Baghdad.
And I don't mean as a tourist.
I saw him right before he left at one of our local eating establishments with his family and that started a long conversation with my girl about life and how we live it.
When things hit closer to home it’s much different than watching things on CNN.
My girl and I have somewhat different political leanings. But we both agree that the stuff going on in Iraq is not a good thing.
Especially sad to us are the young people that are going over there sacrificing, in some cases all of their lives, but at least a part of their lives.
But my friend Tommy is my age. He is not a “young” man (note hairline). We went to high school together and he’s there too.
He has a business and a family with some cute kids and a wonderful wife. He has lots of friends and life is good.
And he was ripped out of that and sent to train and deploy to Iraq.
I remember when he and several other of my high school friends joined the National Guard right out of high school. That was 1979 – seems like yesterday sometimes and other times, like now, it seems like a lifetime ago. And I know they signed on for these things – but I don’t ever remember thinking the Mississippi National Guard would be responsible for fighting wars in other countries. I was thinking about the Russians invading and hurricanes and such.
I could write a very rambling political viewpoint here – but I’m not going to – that’s not what this post was for.
It was to let him know that I have added him to my prayer list and each day I pray for him and his.
Like most people we come in contact with, we’re not close friends - we don’t hang out. But he’s a great guy and I’ll always stop what I’m doing and go talk to him when I see him.
And it breaks my heart that he is over there for some reason. It may be because I grew up in the military. My father did Vietnam and other exotic locales as a snake-eating, ass-kicking Green Beret.
So I know what it is like to see your dad get on a plane and go away and fight for something that you don’t understand.
I know what it does to the spouses who are left behind. How they lie down at night and try to be brave but must be scared to death.
And I certainly know what it's like for the children who have to pretend that everything is "normal".
And as a Christian, it’s very hard for me to reconcile these things in my head, but it’s very easy in my heart to realize that this is far beyond what I believe we are called to do in this life.
So be safe Tommy, keep your head down. And when you get back, I promise that life will be sweeter for you – and that no matter how stupid our mission may be, the fact that you are there helping those people is a wonderful thing that I hope will make you proud of what you did there.
We’re proud of you and we do what we can – we pray. So God Bless.
And I don't mean as a tourist.
I saw him right before he left at one of our local eating establishments with his family and that started a long conversation with my girl about life and how we live it.
When things hit closer to home it’s much different than watching things on CNN.
My girl and I have somewhat different political leanings. But we both agree that the stuff going on in Iraq is not a good thing.
Especially sad to us are the young people that are going over there sacrificing, in some cases all of their lives, but at least a part of their lives.
But my friend Tommy is my age. He is not a “young” man (note hairline). We went to high school together and he’s there too.
He has a business and a family with some cute kids and a wonderful wife. He has lots of friends and life is good.
And he was ripped out of that and sent to train and deploy to Iraq.
I remember when he and several other of my high school friends joined the National Guard right out of high school. That was 1979 – seems like yesterday sometimes and other times, like now, it seems like a lifetime ago. And I know they signed on for these things – but I don’t ever remember thinking the Mississippi National Guard would be responsible for fighting wars in other countries. I was thinking about the Russians invading and hurricanes and such.
I could write a very rambling political viewpoint here – but I’m not going to – that’s not what this post was for.
It was to let him know that I have added him to my prayer list and each day I pray for him and his.
Like most people we come in contact with, we’re not close friends - we don’t hang out. But he’s a great guy and I’ll always stop what I’m doing and go talk to him when I see him.
And it breaks my heart that he is over there for some reason. It may be because I grew up in the military. My father did Vietnam and other exotic locales as a snake-eating, ass-kicking Green Beret.
So I know what it is like to see your dad get on a plane and go away and fight for something that you don’t understand.
I know what it does to the spouses who are left behind. How they lie down at night and try to be brave but must be scared to death.
And I certainly know what it's like for the children who have to pretend that everything is "normal".
And as a Christian, it’s very hard for me to reconcile these things in my head, but it’s very easy in my heart to realize that this is far beyond what I believe we are called to do in this life.
So be safe Tommy, keep your head down. And when you get back, I promise that life will be sweeter for you – and that no matter how stupid our mission may be, the fact that you are there helping those people is a wonderful thing that I hope will make you proud of what you did there.
We’re proud of you and we do what we can – we pray. So God Bless.
posted by KK at 10:51 AM
3 Comments:
Amazing post. It really highlights the human side of this war's impact.
Everyone should be fundamentally "anti-war." There will always be debate over when/if a particular conflict is necessary. However, it's hard for me to understand that whole "shoot-first" mentality.
And, amen to National Guard service not carrying with it the expectation of fighting in an overseas war. What a mess this has all become!
Gut-Wrenching... hard to believe we are doing it all again.
Great post, Keith. Tommy Boy is on my daily prayer list, too.
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