Veteran's Day Salute

Friday is Veteran's Day. We are at war, and I'm sitting at home in a nice comfortable house doing whatever I please because I live in a country like America. Though this country is way too secular and rooted in sin, it is still under God and still stands for freedom. Without permission, I would like to post an email I received a couple of weeks ago from a soldier in Iraq. He is supposed to be on his way home now. I don't know the guy, but I know his wife's parents (and hence how I got the email). I have bolded the parts of the email I found particularly moving. If you are reading this, please pray for Jason to arrive home safely -- and thank a veteran if you can.

15 OCT 06
Less than a month left to go here. It is hard to think of anything other than going home. We are all very eager to be done with this tour. It is like waiting for Christmas--the closer it gets, the slower time seems to pass.

It has been a long year. It is weird to say that...a year. Have I really been gone that long? It has been way too long.

The "fresh fish" are beginning to show up. It is nice to see the new patches around the FOB. It is just another reminder that this tour is almost done.

This "journal" of mine has grown quite long over the last year. I just spent over an hour reading back through it, reminiscing. Many of you reading this journal now have been reading these entries since the beginning of my deployment. Thank you for your interest. Thank you for your always encouraging words.

Because you have shared some of this journey with me through my journal, I felt obligated to write one last time to close out the books. I know I haven't written in awhile, so I wanted to let you know where we stand.

We are preparing to hand the baton off to the next unit who will be replacing us. We are feeling the struggle the rest of Iraq is feeling. The road this country has begun traveling down is a long difficult road. I am not going to mince words: it has a long way to go. Even our area, which is doing relatively well, has a long way to go. We have improved the Iraqi Army and the Iraqi Police tremendously in our area. Their performance has dramatically improved during our tenure. But it has a long way to go still. It is frustrating sometimes because the steps they take are so small. They are getting better, but so slowly. Our area has successfully had a democratic election this year, but we are still fighting the corruption that is deeply ingrained in this country's way of doing things. We have improved life for the cities: opened a large tractor factory for employment, stood up 3 agricultural unions for the rural areas, emplaced strategic water purification units in areas that have not seen clean water ever, fixed the electricity shortages for thousands, and provided the security forces with better equipment and training. While many civic projects are improving quality of life, we are still fighting the terrorists and militias that try to disrupt the stability.

Many good things happened this year. Many areas of Iraq are on the right track like ours, but there are many that are a mess like Baghdad. The problem is that fixing the mess will take a long time, because like I said before, the Iraqis are taking baby steps toward improvement. Nothing will resolve itself quickly here. It is what it is.

Whether this war is right or wrong, it has been an honor serving my country for this year. Like I said in a journal entry awhile ago, I will gladly spend 10 years here if it means that the terrorists are tied up fighting us here rather than at home. Knowing my family sleeps safe at night is enough of a reason for me. I know what it is like not to have that luxury.

Thank you all for thinking of me and for praying for me. I am glad I am coming home. I know that I am fortunate. We have lost many soldiers. Why the guy next to me died and I lived is a mystery to me, but for whatever reason, I am coming home and I am not complaining about it. I look forward to reuniting with my wife and reminding my son who his father is.

Application Time: 1.) Thank a veteran on Friday. Let's not take for granted what we have been blessed with in America. 2.) Pray for our soldiers. They be way over on the other side of the world, but God is still a protector and still in charge. 3.) Know that your soul is at war every day if you are a Christian. Fight, brother. Fight, sister. Bring out the big guns and be obedient under pressure.