The Ultimate Sacrifice

What do you see when you look at this picture?  Soldiers carrying one of America's fallen, right?  Not me.

I see Joshua Langston (front left).  He is a Marine and I know him.  I don't know him well but I have carried on conversations with him and I know his mother Debbie and his sister Tiffany well.  I actually remember when Josh joined the marines.  I have been working with Debbie for over 8 years now and Tiffany is a good friend of mine.  My friend Jamie has also been best friends with Josh since they were kids.  I've seen pictures like this before but I just saw soldiers carrying someone who gave their life for our country.  Josh just got back from his third deployment but this picture was taken on Memorial Day.  What were you doing on Memorial Day?  Grilling, shopping, spending time with family?  All of the above?  Kind of puts things into perspective, huh?  My friend Jamie showed me this picture about a month before my brother was deployed.  She was very casual when she showed me and I think the look on my face said it all and she instantly knew that she shouldn't have showed it to me.  I lost my lunch after she showed it to me but now I'm glad she did.  This picture speaks to me.  It speaks to me in a very loud manner...I feel like it's screaming at me!  Those are real men, real soldiers, and they are carrying someone who gave the ultimate sacrifice.

Sunday night my Mom got a call.  It was from Angela Burkhalter.  Angela is one of the ladies that helps set everything up from my brothers unit.  Any and all information that is true comes from either her or her husband Leon.  Leon is actually the person that recruited my brother.  I never thought Clifford would actually join but he did. (Dear Leon, I'm not gonna be writing you any fan mail.)  But Leon didn't make the choice for my brother, he made it himself.  I don't dislike Leon so please don't think that (maybe I'll write him fan mail when Clifford gets back).  The call was bad news.  Two of the soldiers in my brothers unit were killed in action.  I was not expecting this call.  I had tried to prepare myself for things like this but I don't think I could ever really be prepared.  The truth is I try to not think about things like this.  I am a worrier.  And if I spent my time thinking about this then I wouldn't be able to live life normally.

When Mom called me to tell me my heart sank to my stomach, I was dizzy, nauseous, weak, and shaking.  Two men that my brother knew were killed in action.  One of them had four kids.  The other had five kids, his name was Harley.  Harley's son is in 5th platoon with my brother and they are very close.  Father and son serving together and the son has to escort his father's body home.  I can't lie and say that I didn't feel relief when Mom said Clifford is ok..."Thank God!" is what went through my mind.  But then selfishness set in.  I said "Thank God" because it wasn't my brother...then I realized that it was someone elses brother, father, son.  I couldn't help but think what if this happens to my brother?  My brother is a combat engineer.  He drives vehicles that search for IEDs and if they find any they dismantle them.  Apparently there was a unit out that had a disabled vehicle and they sent a mechanic unit out to tow it and they hit an IED.  Two dead, three injured.  It hit close to home and it hit hard.  I am asking that you pray for these families as they start the grieving and healing process.  The person that planted the IED has been caught but who knows how they are going to handle that.  We all know what we think should be done.

I got this picture a couple of weeks after my brother actually made it to his base in Afghanistan.  It scares me a little to look at it.  I never pictured I would see my brother wearing body armor or carrying an assault rifle unless it was in a video game.  I am proud of him but I am very ready for this to be over and for him to be home safe and sound!

When my brother was getting ready for deployment I struggled with how to explain to Ivy what was happening.  I mean how do you really explain it to a two and half year old.  So we said that Uncle Cliffy had to go far, far away to march for America.  It turns out that this was a very good way to explain it.  She loves to send him packages and color him pictures.

Ivy and I had an interesting conversation the other day and it went something like this.

Ivy - Mommy, dat Jeanna's bag?
Me - Yep, it is.
Ivy - Mommy, she take dat on the plane?
Me - No. Jeanna's not going on a plane honey.
Ivy - Oh. But Uncle Cliffy went on the plane far, far away for a long, long time.
Me - Yeah, he did.
Ivy - He's marchin' Mommy.  He's marchin' good.
Me - He sure is, he's marching for America.
Ivy - I miss him. (Sigh) Mommy, you miss him too?
Me - Yeah, I do honey.
Ivy - It make you sad Mommy?
Me - Sometimes sweetie.

I couldn't believe I had just had that conversation with my almost three year old.  Seriously, kids aren't given enough credit for how smart they are.  And since this has been such a serious post I'm gonna leave you with a smile.  I took this picture a few weeks ago when I heard Ivy in her room saying..."March!March!March!" and stomping her feet loudly.  This is what I found when I walked in.

I think somehow this would make our troops proud.