American Strength
An American Soldier was laid to rest today. He was eulogized, honored and buried with full Marine military honors.
The ceremony was spectacular and heartbreaking.
He had served his country for over 20 years as a Marine. He had served his community as a law enforcement officer. And in the last year, he had served his country again, training Iraqi soldiers. He was killed in Iraq by an IED. It took 11 days to bring him home.
He was buried in a cemetery next to a church a long way down a country road on the outskirts of a very small southern town.
This middle-of-no-where place is familiar to most of us Americans. You probably have a place very similar to it down the road and over the hill from where you are. Hundreds of people came to this middle-of-no-where place to pay respects to the man who was killed in service to his country.
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Flags fly on the houses around there. The people believe in God and country. They love their families, their friends and help their neighbors. They believe in integrity, honor, decency and carrying their own weight. They believe in traditional American values.
These people are the character and strength of America.
My friend, her family, her friends and her community have made a very personal sacrifice for love of their country. Americans have been making these sacrifices since the Revolutionary War. One family at a time. One person at a time. One community at a time.
It’s the extraordinary common man who holds this country together. It’s the guy who loves his country, his family, his community and his God. It’s the wife who waits for him, understands him and loves him.
You probably know these people. They are probably down the street from you, living in your community.
They are the threads that make up the fabric of American society and the cloth of the American Flag.
