TASK #41: COURAGE UNDER FIRE
“The best armor is staying out of gun range.” Joe Doe
I’m going to make this simple: this country does not stand without an army, and I respect any man or woman willing to place themselves in harm’s way so that I can call myself a free man.
Almost without restriction–as long as we stay on the legal side of the fence–we can say what we want, watch what we want, write what we want, read what we want, and wear what we want. Does that mean I can yell “fire” in a crowded theater, or wear an Insane Clown Posse tee-shirt to the office? Of course not. But I can wear my Insane Clown Posse tee-shirt to see the tribe play, even if I get a lot of quizzical stares and a few shaking heads…
And these freedoms are protected by the constitution, and the constitution–and thus our way of life–is protected by our armed forces. I wouldn’t join the army if you forced me. No sir. But that doesn’t mean I can’t respect the people who do.
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And these freedoms are protected by the constitution, and the constitution–and thus our way of life–is protected by our armed forces. I wouldn’t join the army if you forced me. No sir. But that doesn’t mean I can’t respect the people who do.
So one day when I was thinking about this I decided to write a letter to a serviceman. A dude serving in the mid-east. I told him about my life, my town, and my love of the Ohio State Buckeyes. And I told him that he was a brave man.
And he wrote back. He lives in Oklahoma, so he doesn’t care for my state or certainly my allegiance to the Buckeyes, but we bonded over our music–the man is a juggalo.
TASK
Write a letter to someone in the service. It doesn’t matter whether it’s someone in the Army, Navy, Marines or Coast Guard, and it doesn’t matter if they are stationed in Iraq or San Diego, just write the letter. Tell him/her about yourself. You can use the following website or find another.
Photo courtesy of the author