Wounded Warriors
Let’s
face it—every day we see Americans angry about money and our financial
situation. Seriously—what happened? Congress used to serve—not pop in for a few
years of hard-headed arguments and then a life time of payment and insurance.
Every day on Facebook I see a post about what
people make in disability or pensions—and our soldiers are on the bottom of the
pile. Yes, it’s a voluntary military. But, being your basic incredible coward
here, I am fall-on-my-knees grateful to the young men and women who serve our
country.
This
year I was privileged to go on a USO tour. To visit our wounded in hospitals.
To see that war doesn’t just kill—it maims and destroys our young men and
women.
You
have to be hard as nails to watch this and not wind up with tears in your eyes.
The
buses arrive; those at DRC line up with flags to welcome the warriors. And
everyone claps as our soldiers go by. Some are limping—some are walking just
fine but waving back with prosthetic arms. Some are on two prosthetic legs.
And
some are in wheelchairs; not even prosthetics will ever let them walk again.
They
all seem to have wonderful senses of humor—they have learned to live with their
injuries. In other words, they’re still fighters. They’re alive—and they’re
going to live.
We
tried to show one soldier a ramp; he teased back, asking us if we were afraid he couldn't go down the step.
He assured us he was a true professional wheelchair driver and he did indeed
get his wheel chair to hop down the step with no problem.
At
one of the swim docks, prosthetics were removed and piled on a wheelchair. Two soldiers, each one with one good leg remaining, held up a friend with no legs from the
knees down for an interactive handshake with a dolphin. Of course—employees
were in the water to help at any minute. But the soldiers are friends—and good
together.
Somehow,
the dolphins know that they’re welcoming our wounded home. They come to the
soldiers—move slowly on a pull when they need to, move where and when they
should. They are
bright animals, instinctive, and they put on a show like no
other.
There’s
a lot of laughter. There’s pride in every branch of the service—but they’re all
part of the American military; they’ve gone down many a road that’s the same.