Jumping Fences

  What brought me here? Why didn’t I continue to build my career and go home to my family each night? What sense of duty compelled me to come 7,000 miles from home? Am I that patriotic? Do I really believe in this war?

   The answers don’t come easy, but I do believe in fate, and I do believe in synchronicity. Though I miss my family so much my bones ache, I still feel this is where I’m supposed to be at this time in my life. Also, the answer was unreachable until the decision was made and I spent some time with the soldiers in this Battalion. These guys are some of the hardest working Americans I’ve ever met. They are a cross-section of American culture and personify selfless service.

   We have electricians, lawyers, school teachers, full-time soldiers, firefighters, software engineers, therapists, finance consultants, police officers, highway patrolmen, self-employed business owners, and many other professionals in this unit. They all bring something to the table. So the question I asked myself during the end of 2004 has now been answered by working with these people for the last eight months. We all miss our families. We all wish we were home. Of course we do, but when I consider the hard work and dedication I am surrounded by each day, I am supremely humbled.

   So, I believe that the undercurrents of my life, the nuances of my experiences, the turns of my fate, and the deep devotion in my heart as a dad have brought me to this moment. Yes, all these things nudged me forward in my decision to come. I wanted to make my family proud. I wanted to be able to sit amidst grandchildren some day and tell them how I went to Iraq in order to make America better. I wanted to tell them how bad men started a fight, and how good men jumped the fences into their backyards to finish it.

  You can't wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club.
                                                         -  Jack London

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