April 14, 2008

With Thanks To Our Volunteers

"These are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of men and women." Tomas Paine, The Crisis, December 1776

Paine's words, heard now as dim historic echo of a time where heroes walked and ordinary men and women made extraordinary sacrifices, ring true in our day. Those that "stand it now" do deserve our love and thanks. With the news that our local National Guard unit will be mobilized again the personal imprint of this trying time is once again felt intimately and the need to express support and gratitude is renewed.

Even though this post is partly motivated by our local news I am reminded that this a national issue. Note the following statistics...

National Guard (Federal Status) and Reserve Mobilized as of February 27, 2008

· Army National Guard and Army Reserve: 74,588

· Navy Reserve: 5,328

· Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve: 6,982

· Marine Corps Reserve: 8,773

· Coast Guard Reserve: 343

Total National Guard and Reserve

personnel mobilized:
96,014


Regardless of your views on the war it is important to remember that every man and woman currently serving in our armed forces volunteered for this duty.


Some simple suggestions...
  1. Red Shirt Friday. Wear your red shirt as a show of solidarity and support. (I've been doing this for several months now.)
  2. Tie one on, a yellow ribbon that is. Put one on your door, or on your car antenna, or on your lapel. (I will have this in place today.)
  3. Learn the "Thank You" sign and pass it along anytime you see any of our military personnel. If they don't know it already they will learn quickly as they see it over and over again. You can check out a brief video on this one at The Gratitude campaign.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

We should always show our support for those who defend us. Good reminder.

Unknown said...

Thanks for the focus on the brave.

Random me said...

Hi John,
No, haven't been around in a bit, I've been sick :(

I haven't heard about Ben Stein's movie, "Expelled" but have been out of the loop a bit nursing this cold, whats it all about??

Random me said...

Okay, just went and read up on this film... is it a joke or is it supposed to be true? (and that is a honest question I'm actually not clear...)

If this is for real I am actually speechless (for once)

I will certainly have to go and have a look if and when it is released in Ireland.

It all seems a bit bizzare and I'm inclined to think that it is 'taking the mick' as we say here in Ireland.

John said...

Hi Random!

I assume you are talking about the movie "Expelled". It's no joke though it may be laced with some tongue in cheek humor.

One quote from Dawkins in the trailer intrigued me. "I cannot tolerate a rival doctrine." I understand where he's coming from, just interesting to hear him use the terminology of doctrine - the very thing he would decry as bogus in a discussion concerning the notion of God.

Blessings!

John