Correspondence with a friend

I decided to share this with you. It’s some mail that went back and forth a couple of times between me and a friend. I worked with him when I hosted my radio show, and we’re still good friends. He’s a Marine, I’m a news journalist, we talk a lot about the state of the world and its troubles.

No matter what you think of the war on terror, the war in Iraq, or even President Bush, put that aside to appreciate the men and women who serve in the U.S. armed forces. When I interviewed Lt. Col. Oliver North for the Memorial Day show, we had a great talk about the concepts of honor, duty, valor, service and loyalty. He said we call sports figures ‘heroes’ though that’s not what they are, even with great football or baseball skills. He listed all the tough requirements for applicants to even be considered for the U.S. military, which are tougher than any other employer. It’s all volunteer, and they aren’t paid enough or appreciated enough, though they would never say that.

Col. North talked about what a real hero is, and it was great having that conversation. You won’t hear much of that — if at all — in the mainstream media, except for Col. North’s ‘War Stories’ on Fox News.

So here’s some correspondence between me and Carmen. He had sent me some streaming video of a terrific commercial showing some of our troops in fatigues making their way through an airport, and other travelers along the concourse starting to notice them and show their appreciation. It started with one person clapping. Then a few more. Little by little more of the bystanders turned and saw what was happening, and joined in. By the end of the commercial, everyone was standing and clapping in appreciation for the men and women in uniform.

So I sent Carmen this note:

When I traveled just recently (again), I saw a man in fatigues coming in my direction looking up at airport monitors, and I diverted over to him just to say ‘thank you for your service.’ He looked surprised, brightened up, and said the heartiest ‘thank you!’ That happens every time. These guys are so humble, so honorable and so grateful. The rest of the country should take them as an example of how to serve others, how to comport oneself, and how to lead by example.
 
Or rather, I should say ‘you guys.’ Thank you for your service, which I can’t say enough to a Marine.
 
Thanks for the commercial. It rang so true.

Here was his reply:

Thank you for your kind words.  I seem to hear the “thank yous'” much more as we get deeper and deeper into the War on Terror.  But, I beg to differ with you on one point.  It’s not that we’re humble, it’s that we know it’s our job.  To us, coming up and saying thank you would be like someone coming up to you in an airport and saying “thank you” for being on the air.  It’s a job to us…it’s a calling….it’s our pleasure to serve.  Some people are called to serve God….others are called to serve their country.  The lucky ones get to do both.

We’re more than lucky that they’re serving. We’re blessed.

These were just notes between friends. But I wanted to share it with you, because these are the types of people who step up to enter the armed forces to defend values and people they hold dear. Col. North and I both want you to know who the real heroes are.