Memorial Day 2009

Hello Everybody! For my first post, Id like to share with you a speech I recently had the honor to give to the people of Miami Dade County. County Commissioner Jose "Pepe" Diaz and Miami City Commissioner Michelle Spence-Jones' staff contacted me a week before and asked me if I would speak at this year's Memorial Day ceremony and I immediately agreed. Commissioner Diaz has asked me to speak at other veterans related events and I usually choose to speak "off the cuff" which I feel is more honest and theres no chance of anyone editing or trying to control what you want to say. (Not to say thats what they would do). But given such an important holiday, how people have so easily forgotten the TRUE meaning of the holiday and the current state of our nation, I chose to write down what I wanted to say. That way I had a source from where to keep my ideas and thoughts tracked. Also because whenever I speak, once Im done, I usually sit down and immediately think of something I should have said or forgot to mention. Well...Enough introductions. The following is the speech I had the honor to give to the people of Miami Dade County. A county that is very well known throughout the nation and is probably the most culturally and politically diverse location in our great nation. I hope you enjoy it!!!


March 25, 2009 (Memorial Day)

A Veteran is someone that at one point in their life wrote a blank check, made payable to the United States of America, in the amount of: Up to and including my life…

Today is Memorial Day. While families today are gathered around a barbecue grill, at a local park playing football, soccer, basketball or whatever other sport they enjoy, many Americans are currently overseas ensuring that we as Citizens are free to enjoy those activities and the many freedoms we so often take for granted.

Freedom of Speech (wether politically correct or incorrect), The Right to Keep and Bear Arms (which protects us from those criminals who choose to break the law, regardless of which ones or how many are emplaced) and The Right to practice whatever religion we choose are just some of those that we are aware of but so easily forget that there are those who shoulder the responsibility AND the burden of ensuring those rights are there for us.

As an Iraq War veteran, I have been lucky to come back home various times to a country that not only supported us but greeted us with open arms. There are the occasional conversations where someone, as soon as they learned that I served in the military and in Iraq, feel that it is their duty to inform me how they think that service members are entirely overpaid (Yes, there are those) and that they believe that we have no business in that country.

I will admit, that although anger immediately rushes through my veins due to their ignorant and ill-informed comments, I smile and remind them that if it wasn’t for the French intervening, we would still be under British control and would not have the freedoms we enjoy today. I remind them that it is our duty as a world power to help out those less fortunate than ourselves. I also remind them that it is due to those “overpaid” service members, that he or she is able to make such comments. I also, just for my own amusement, ask them how much a civilian Infantryman makes.

But the Vietnam War veterans were not so lucky. Too many times they were shunned and cursed by those that they saw when theyd walk down the streets of their own hometowns. Too many times were they called names like “baby killers”. In actuality, most combat veterans took great measures when fighting around civilians to not injure or kill them. These cautions sometimes led to injuries and death unto themselves. Now, I will not stand before you today and claim that children as young as the very same age as my son haven’t been killed as a result of combat action. But let me ask you this, put yourself in the same situation. A man, woman or child is shooting at you from a hundred meters away...Who’s going home? You or them? This is the situation that so often happened in Vietnam and believe you me, it happens in Iraq. That very scenario, even though we here in America are not aware of its occurrence, and will not affect any events in our day to day life, it DOES affect those of us that have been put in those positions.

None of us are proud of EVERY decision we have ever had to make. But it is the decision that had to be made in order to accomplish the mission, save our own or one of our buddy’s life or to ensure that our families and friends back home are able to enjoy the freedoms we so easily take for granted.

I will take this opportunity to share something with you. The majority of Iraqi citizens love the American servicemembers. They appreciate what we have done for them. Stabilized their country, brought wells to a town that has little or no water. Bring pencils, paper and chalk to 10 year old children that never learned to write because the school was never provided the resources to teach them. But there are those few that do not. And believe it or not, too often, it is those that want us there that end up injuring or killing us. Confused? Ill explain….

Too often, Iraqi fathers have been faced with this situation. Someone comes into his house, takes his wife and daughter and threatens to kill them if he and his son don’t do exactly what they are told to do. Wether it be set up a roadside bomb or to fire a few mortars into a military base.

Another situation is bribing them with money. Mind you, this family is so poor, they cant even provide pencils for their children. So when someone tells them that they will be paid an equivalent to a year’s salary (which is about $2000) if they just place a mine under the road. Sometimes, it’s a combination of both. What father wouldn’t do everything he could to ensure that his family is safe and is provided for? What would you do if you were in the same situation?

On this Memorial Day and every single day after that, take a minute out of your day. To say a small prayer, to thank someone in uniform, to bring a meal to a Veterans home, or to visit a gravesite.

To thank them for the service they have provided. To show your appreciation to those that will forever bear the memories of actions necessary for survival. Of actions necessary to ensure freedom back home. Im often asked if I had the opportunity to go back in time, would I change the way things worked out. Would I tell my driver to turn around a few seconds sooner? Would I have avoided that route altogether? That is a tough question. Mainly, because that decision doesn’t just rely on my outcome. My gunner and one of my best friends was killed as a result of what happened on July 13th, 2006. So in a sense…I would change my decision. Theres nothing more that I want than for Tommy Turner to be able to be with his family today. But at the same time, the fact that my vehicle was blown up ensured that someone else’s wasn’t. And in that sense…Im glad it was me. Also, due to what has happened to me, be it physically, mentally or emotionally…I have been able to help out other service members and their families that have been placed in similar situations. In situations where I may have failed or stumbled on since my injury…Like relationships (girlfriends, family and friends), adapting with the adjustments of civilian life, finding a job…Things like that, I have been able to take my experiences and use them to help out those that are currently or WILL be going through them.

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank the Army and the VA for the care that they have provided for me. I am officially retired now and I can tell you personally that I have NO complaints whatsoever about the care that I received both while on Active Duty and since the day I enrolled in the VA healthcare system. I am eternally grateful for what my doctors and nurses have done throughout my recovery process.

Lastly, I truly believe that none of us are heroes. We are just men and women doing our jobs. Doing our jobs just like the teachers, doctors and nurses that everyday look after our minds or our bodies. Men and women who felt compelled by patriotism to give back for the lives we lead and the freedoms we have been blessed with.

But every once in a while, we may be having a bad day. We may be jarred by a memory of something from the past. And a simple “thank-you” from an appreciative citizen will brighten up our day and remind us…. that our blood, sweat and tears were all for a reason and have not been wasted away in vain.