Today, I was humbled to see the rough-and-tumble town that is Gillette, Wyoming give honor to one of this great country's fallen soldiers. Sadly, he was a hometown kid. And I don't say "kid" to make light of anything. 19. That's still a kid, no matter how you view it.
Lance Corporal Jacob Ross is someone that I have never met. I may have passed him in the grocery store, or sat behind him in a restaurant. Shoot, knowing me I probably made some comment about his driving if we were in the same vicinity on the road. I couldn't tell you anything about his family, where his street was or if he could breakdance. But, I have been touched by this young man. I don't know what it is exactly, the boy staring back from a picture in his Dress Deltas with the thousand yard stare that many a Marine have had to master from the moment they hit the turf in boot camp.
Perhaps it's because I'm a new father and I have a greater sense of the world around my daughter. Perhaps it is the sharing of a sense of camaraderie that comes from serving in the United State Armed Forces. I know what type of sacrifices I had to make while serving overseas in the military, and I know how hard it was for my family and friends to deal with me being gone. I served in a time of peace, and the sacrifices then were tremendously straining. I can only imagine that a family that has a loved one in a hot-zone must feel the weight that Atlas carried times a thousand.
A firefight in Afghanistan claimed this young man, far too soon, and far too far away from the comforts that we enjoy. I watched literally thousands of people from this little energy town gather along the streets to honor their fallen warrior...and I was humbled.
This young man that I have never met, who always dreamed of being a Marine, gave the ultimate sacrifice so that my young daughter, her mother, and her father can go to bed tonight and enjoy the same comforts tomorrow that we went to bed with.
He defended my right to go to church and worship without border. He defended my right to disagree with my president. He defended my right to go to work tomorrow for a fare wage and provide a better life for my family. He defended the right for the people that I may disagree with to have their opinions, and the right for them to have an equal voice. He defended our rights to have a fair trial by a jury of our peers. He defended the strong, and protected the weak. All of this from a 19 year old man, whom I never met, and he never asked me for anything in return.
I cried as the hearse carrying his casket passed in front of my family. You're absolutely right I did. Not because I was sad. Not because it was emotional that a young man was gone. Not because my heart breaks for his family that loved him unconditionally. All of those things are true, absolutely. Nope, I cried because I was thankful. I was thankful that any one of the men and women that are out serving today, or have served in the past know the bigger picture. I know that any one my fellow service men and women would make the same sacrifice tomorrow if they knew that even one person would lose their freedoms if they didn't. And Jacob Ross made that sacrifice, whether he knew me or not.
Make no mistakes friends, the history of our country is written in the blood of heroes. This is the Land of the Free, BECAUSE of our brave. If you read this, please take a minute and say a prayer for the families of all of those fighting. Say a prayer for Jacob Ross' family. Say a prayer for the leadership of our country. And when you get done praying all of that...thank God, because our armed forces have fought and died so that you could pray freely in the first place.
"May the Lord bless you and keep you. May He make his face shine upon you, and be gracious to you. May the Lord turn His face toward you, and give you peace." Numbers 6:24-27
