Guardian

The pewter token I've chosen to write about is "guardian", a word that conjures up many emotions for me. In fact, I've been struggling with this post for two days. I briefly considered discussing the incident when my own guardian angel saved me from what I know with every fiber of my being was a life-endangering, if not life-ending, situation. I've shared the details of this experience with only a handful of those closest to me, and don't feel inclined to share it with anyone else for the time being. Besides, in my opinion the word "guardian" applies to a much broader and more public group of people: our nation's military men and women.

Sometimes when I feel so strongly about something I find that I have difficulty expressing myself. Such is the case when I think of those serving in the military. These people are the heart and soul of our country, the guardians of the ideals upon which our nation was founded. Yet six years after 9/11 they don't get nearly as much daily attention and appreciation from the American public and media as they deserve. More often than not, the only mention they receive on the news is in the general terms of daily casualty reports. In that context it is easy to forget that each fatality was an individual who knowingly and willingly gave the ultimate sacrifice to further our nation's ideals.

Part of the problem is that only a small percentage of Americans have personal knowledge of someone serving in our all-volunteer military. I counted myself among that crowd until I began dating an active duty soldier in late 2002. After at least three false starts, Matt and his unit finally deployed to Iraq in early April 2003. He was there for seven long months during which time I had only sporadic contact with him. A letter every couple of weeks (for some inexplicable reason, he didn't have email access), a brief and sometimes chaotic middle of the night phone call every now and then. I felt like I was always waiting-- for a letter, a phone call, for the other shoe to drop. Fortunately the aforementionned shoe remained firmly in place until after Matt came home but that's a story for another day. Suffice it to say that I have incredible empathy for service members (as well as their families) who suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI). Like those who suffer debilitating physical injuries, the lives of the soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines (as well as their families) who are victims of psychological damage will forever be altered. Still all reports that I've read--including the most recent released today by the Department of Defense--indicate that military retention rates are incredibly high, and most months the various branches meet their recruiting goals. In other words, despite the obvious dangers and risks involved in serving during war time, people are still volunteering to serve. They are fighting and dying, in part, to guard the rights of all Americans as outlined in the Bill of Rights including the right to publically protest the war. If you are curious about what are troops are really doing in Afghanistan and Iraq, there are two sites I recommend you peruse: http://gocomics.typepad.com/the_sandbox/ and http://milblogging.com/. Both sites contain posts and links to blogs written by soldiers, airmen, sailors, and marines who are in the thick of it and for the most part don't mince words.

Regardless of how we feel about the choices made by our government, we owe it to our military men and women to take care of them during and after deployment. You don't have to have a personal connection to a service member to do this, as all sorts of organizations have sprung up in the last six years devoted to supporting the troops via care packages, letter writing campaigns, cash donations, etc. My current favorite is http://asoldierswishlist.org/ in which civilians can "adopt" a deployed service member by sending care packages and/or letters. So far I've been paired with three different soldiers and have sent items ranging from boot socks and auto fuses to homemade cookies and nail polish. The letters I've received in return provide a fascinating peak into the daily lives of those who help to guard my freedom. I strongly encourage each of us to do something to show our support to these brave men and women. It is the very least we can do for those who have volunteered to guard our rights.