When I was younger, the draft was still happening. I was a bit afraid of being drafted and serving. To be honest, at the time I did not know why nor understand except that I knew I was different from the other guys. I didn’t realize that Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT) was affecting me in the ways it did. Had I been drafted, I would have gone but they would have found I was not physically-able to serve.
Over the years of life, I appreciated those who served as I grew up in an area where quite a few of my neighbors and friends were with the U.S. Armed Forces in one way or another. I remember many stories of active duty or serving in the offices.
Also, I remember losing friends along the way because they gave the ultimate sacrifice. Many of them would have told you, if they could, that they died doing what they loved to do “protecting our freedoms.” Not too many years after I graduated from high school, a friend I had graduated with was killed in a bombing overseas. Broke my heart.
Today, I want to honor those fallen heroes to worked to protect our freedoms and paid the ultimate sacrifice. Also, for me, I feel like I can never ever say “thank you” enough to anyone who has spent their lives serving in the United State Armed Forces. So, I want to thank them today too.