What does Peace mean to you? Shaun Darragh describes what Peace means to a Peacekeeper.
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by Shaun Darragh
Peace means laying your head down on the pillow at night without having to wonder if some assailant will enter your home.
Peace means waking up in the morning and stepping out into your garden without having to first take up a weapon.
Peace means sending your children off to school without undue worry as to whether they will return unharmed and alive.
Peace means that as you go about your daily business, you feel reasonably sure that the agents of law and order are impartial and in most cases helpful.
Peace means that when you sit town to talk with your neighbors and friends, no one is reporting what you say to a hostile government.
Peace means that when you pay homage to the creator of the universe, no one is dictating when and how you can do so.
Peace is the feeling that you will always have a fair chance at a decent job that can adequately feed, clothe, educate and medically care for your family, allowing you a reasonable retirement when you pass working age.
Peace is the surety that if you fail, you will do so on your own merits or lack thereof.
Peace is the serenity that you feel as you lay back down that night, knowing that all you enjoy was due to the efforts of yourself and others who once stood watches and patrols armed, risking your lives and health so that others might enjoy the peace you do now, as yet another generation of soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines, and agents of order man the ramparts that keep our world at peace.
Peace is the feeling that overcomes you at sunrise when you raise your glass or coffee cup to those who never made it back, the glint of their eyes reflected in the rays of the rising sun, and thank them for the privilege of having once been in their company.
Peace is the reasonable surety that our world and theirs will endure.
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Shaun Darragh is the author of MIKE Force: A Novel of Vietnam’s Central Highlands War. Darragh joined the Army at 17, reenlisted for Special Forces at 20, left at 27 to attend college in Puerto Rico, gained B.A. and J.D. degrees, and after short stints as a bilingual Social Worker, then Attorney, returned to Army Special Forces. After retiring in 1989, he spent 17 years in Intelligence, initially with the Joint Special Operations Command, then Mexico City, followed by Panama, Puerto Rico and Seoul, Korea.
Warriors Publishing Group is the brainchild of Julia Dewey Dye, Ph.D., who leads this charge directed at bringing readers excellent works by combat-veteran authors. War stories need to be published, distributed and consumed if we are to understand the mentality and motivation of military people. And we must do that to appreciate their service and sacrifice on behalf of this nation and our people. That’s a worthy endeavor and it’s what we’re dedicated to at the Warriors Publishing Group.
