Sometimes if Takes a Hero

Once again, there is trouble in Iraq. However, there always seems to be and, as we have become accustomed the situation, we seem to care less every day. I’ve been waving the flag pretty hard for a couple of years, but I forget as well ... just like the rest of us. Then, every once in a while, something happens to make it more personal. Last year, I had at least three friends involved in the official hostilities in Iraq so it was in the forefront of my mind. I just learned this morning that I have a friend in the thick of it once again. At this very moment a Marine named Greg is involved in the fighting around Fallujah. Here is a young man that I have known since he was in Junior High, who graduated from High School with my own son of the same age, whom I worked closely with for several years in Boy Scouts. And now he is clearly in harm’s way. That makes the war a little more personal. I have no misgivings about the war. I’m not worried about WMD’s. My confidence in the President hasn’t faltered. All those big political issues can and should be discussed. But right now my heart and prayers go out to one young Marine on the far side of the world, an all American boy simply doing the job he was trained to do. How many other young men and women are also in harm’s way just now? And how many other relatives and friends feel just the way I do at this moment? However you feel about the war or politics or whatever, I hope you are still 100 percent behind the brave men and women who so proudly wear the uniform of your country. They need our support, and our prayers. When there is trouble in the world, sometimes it takes a hero to straighten things out. Right now, my hero is a young man half my age, fighting for the freedom of people he has never even met in a far away place called Iraq. May we always be appreciate his efforts and those of his comrades in arms.

Sometimes it Takes a Hero
Sometimes negotiations fail
And diplomacy just isn’t enough
To mend the woes of a troubled world
Sometimes we have to call the bluff
Of tyrant, who by force would hold
Others hostage, or at bay
When only force can bend their will
There comes a reckoning day
Then, sometimes it takes a hero
To stand up for what is right
Who has the courage and training
And the willingness to fight
Sometimes it takes a hero
To defend the poor and weak
Against those who would oppress them
To win the freedoms all men seek
When evil forces threaten peace
And negotiations fail
Sometimes it takes a hero
To ensure that justice shall prevail
By Frank Carpenter ©