Semper Gratus!

Major Pain and Crew, Iraq, Dec 2005.
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There are hundreds of thousands of young veterans among us today, most whole and healthy and some of them a bit banged up. I imagine this new generation of Vets is a lot like their brothers and sisters back through the ages. They maintain a warrior spirit through the best and the worst of times and continue to make all of America proud and thankful for their service and sacrifices.

The wounded warriors are no exception to this. They may complain about being bored, missing home, or general things that all soldiers bitch about but they still have that will to keep going because the future holds too many experiences that they want to have.

Visiting with a young Marine Sgt and his sweetheart of a wife at Bethesda Naval Hospital, I couldn’t have been happier. The Marine’s legs had been shredded by shrapnel but didn’t require amputation. He’s been thru several surgeries and a big skin graft which must be really painful, but this man was as upbeat and excited about things as if it were Christmas! The couple had been watching the Animal Planet’s “Ugliest Dog” competition and when I left we were joking about him participating in the Marine’s “Ugliest Legs” contest!

At Malogne House a strapping-huge Soldier told of a job offer he had as an assistant coach at the University of Maryland!!! His wife was also offered a job in a bank in the area and the couple is seriously considering staying here. The person who made the offers specifically sought Veterans who had sacrificed themselves for this country. Ain’t life grand?

The best and the brightest is an understatement: These guys rock!

And way to go Valour-IT and Team Marine!

I would like to thank Markus from CA and Michael from CT for flanking me on the tote board. (I’m Lynn from MD). What a wonderful bunch of generous people!!!