sacrifice

john 15:13 - "greater lover has no one than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends."

i was thinking recently about this war i'm apart of... and how few people in the u.s. are feeling any of the impacts or sacrificing anything in their life for it. 1% of the u.s. population serves in the military. i'm not saying we all have to come over here and run around in the desert... i'll gladly do this if it means someone else doesn't have to. i just feel many americans are disconnected from what's going on over here. i include myself prior to deploying.

what made me think of this was reflecting on the memorials i've covered since being here. i've only done a few while many of my troops have done more than their share... but each time really hits home. i don't get angry at the insurgents or this war, i get angry at humanity and our seemingly need to kill each other. i also feel for the soldier and his/her family. to put yourself knowingly in harms way to cover your battle buddy's back i believe takes a certain caliber of person. the first memorial i did was for a 20 year old named dwayne covert. he was married with one child and another on the way. i hope to never forget his name... and that's where i'm going with all of this. i think even if we can't or won't all serve, we should all do something... even if it's as simple as looking up a fallen soldier and remembering his or her name.

here's a site if you feel compelled to do so.
http://icasualties.org/oif/BY_DOD.aspx

if you're religious... pray for their families and as odd as it may seem... my soldiers who have to attend these ceremonies and bottle their emotions more than anyone should have to.

i'm not trying to win anyone over on whether or not we should be in iraq... i'm just hoping you will remember those who answered the call regardless of their political views and layed down their lives for their friends.