I was 24 years old when I decided to join the Army.
I had failed out of college during my sophmore year of college
I was working delivering chips for and was miserable.
I needed a path. I was never a huge supporter of the military necessarily, but I knew that unless I made a radical change in my life, it was going nowhere.
I left for basic training in December of 1994 terrified of what was to come. I remember getting off the bus at Ft. Leonardwood, MO like it was yesterday. I hated it. But I knew I needed it.
Fast forward to today. I can honestly say, it was the single best decision I ever made and help make all the subsuquent ones better. They may not have all been good ones, but in the end they turned out all for the best. All becuase I took one giant step and decided to serve my country. Sure, I joined for selfish reason, as many do. I wanted discipline, direction, and opportunity. I got all of that and more. I got a path in life that has supported me to this day. I got drive and ambition. Most of all, I got a new found respect for those that serve. I made lifelong friends, and not only with the ones I met.
One thing that always struck me then, and now is how great an honor it should be for all young people of this country to spend just one year of their lives learning whats it like to serve your country. Dangerous: yes. Challenging: yes. Hard: yes. Rewarding: ABSOLUTELY. It puts all things in perspective and gives you such a better understanding of the world around you. We have become a nation of narcicists only concerned with the immediate bubble around us. We want everything given to us. The Isrealis demand compulsory service for all Isreali citizens. Im not so sure thats a bad idea …
Standing on the side of Constituion Ave today watching what seemed like 100′s of thousands of motorcycles go by, I could do nothing but continue to take pictures and continue to wipe the tears off my cheek as they streamed down my face from behind my dark sunglasses. The entire scene was moving, from the particpants to the spectators. We must never forget our history, nor our future, they are linked on so many levels. As the motorcycles rolled by like the tears rolling down my face, I thought of the corners of the earth that they all took time to come from to band together and show support for the past and future.
You should all be so lucky as to feel the bond that I feel.
Thanks to all who have served and continue to do so now and into the future.
http://www.flickr.com/apps/slideshow/show.swf?v=71649
