soldiers.

Today is Veteran's Day. Veteran's Day is a big deal in my family. I mean, way may not necessarily go out to celebrate or anything. But it's a day that still crosses all of our minds. How I miss performing in the Veteran's Day Concert in high school, with 800 high school voices ringing through the Huntsman Center. I bawled my eyes out every time, of course. Especially because for me, this day is really personal. And singing those songs makes me thing of so many things.

Both of my grandfathers served in the United States Marine Corps. My Grandpa Poulsen served in the South Pacific during World War II. He was even the #1 Machine-Gunner in the battle of Guadalcanal. Yeah, he's kind of a bad-a. They both served valiantly and, thankfully, serving never took their lives. But they still sacrificed a lot. Grandpa Poulsen was away at war when his first child was born... his first son, who died just hours after his birth. My grandma helped to serve too by working in the factories, of course. Grandpa never talked about the war until years and years after he served... we didn't start hearing stories until the 90's. It wasn't until then that we heard of how he held a a fellow soldier in his arms when he died, after the man jumped on a grenade and saved the whole platoon. He didn't talk about the way he felt fighting the Japanese.. the way he looked at them as fellow human beings who he shouldn't be fighting, up until he'd watch a comrade be shot by them. It was too much for him to even be able to talk about, until so many years later.

My Grandpa Dolan took more pride in being a Marine than anything in the world, except for maybe his grandkids. Or his motorcycle. Both men enlisted voluntarily.

Then, there's my brother, who joined the Marine Corps in winter 2010 and completed boot camp in September 2011. My brother is probably the bravest person I know. He has a genuine desire to fight for this country's freedom. I fear for the day when he is deployed. There is no more heartwrenching a thought than the fact that my brother could leave for a place like Afghanistan, and return in a flag-covered casket. It's something a lot of people don't really think about unless they have a member of their family who did serve or does serve. I hope people will start taking Veteran's Day more seriously. Giving gratitude to the people who preserve our freedom is really important. I haven't even had anyone close to me die at war. But the thought of such a sacrifice being served makes me feel for the families who have lost loved ones, and so thankful for the soldiers who willingly lay down that precious life. It's not like they do it for money, or for glory. They do it because we need them.

The last picture is heartbreaking to anyone who sees it. Our choir director showed it to us last year, and upon searching for it again, a came across this article.

Marine Staff Sgt. Marcus “Marc” Golczynski, was killed in Iraq on March 27. At his funeral in April, Daily News Journal photographer Aaron Thompson captured Marc Golczynski’s teary-eyed son, 8-year-old Christian, accepting a U.S. flag from his father’s casket.

After the photo was released, a citizen wrote to Nasville's paper, The Tennessean. Part of the letter said:

As one would expect, many of your readers were touched by this incredible picture. Staff Sergeant Golczynski had previously served one full tour in Iraq. Shortly before his death on March 27 he wrote to his family that he had volunteered to do this a second time due to our deep desire to finish the job we started. In his letter he said, “We fight and sometimes die so that our families don’t have to.” Tragically, Staff Sergeant Golczynski had only two weeks remaining on his second tour. We look at the photograph of Christian every day. It is displayed prominently in our home. Our hearts ache for Christian and for all those who have lost loved ones in this controversial conflict.

Our nation is at a historical crossroads. Do we call an end to the struggle in Iraq or press on? Staff Sergeant Golczynski eloquently told his son how he felt about not giving up. Perhaps there is a lesson for all of us in this man’s life and the choices he made. He was undeniably a man of tremendous courage and conviction. America must now choose whether to complete the job.

When looking at the fact of Christian Golcynski I am reminded that doing what is right is not always easy and doing what is easy is not always right. Christian's dad knew that too.

Today, I'm thankful for soldiers.

peace

~just megsie