Accountability
We all need to be held accountable to ourselves, to our own conscience, to our own souls. But there are times when it's helpful to hold oneself accountable to those strangers who've sacrified a piece of themselves--literally--on your behalf without your ever having to ask them for the service.
I'm talking about wounded soldiers in case you can't guess. There are military personnel literally laying down their lives every single day so you and I can sit here in the free world and just read blogs, send emails, go to a safe job where we do all kinds of things that may threaten our patience but not our existence on this good Earth.
Then there are the warriors' families. They sacrifice, too. It's hard enough to send your spouse, sibling or child off to fight a war no one in the world seems to figure is worth fighting, but to have them come back broken into little pieces and be ignored is adding insult to the injury. So here's some accountability.
One Marines View has a description of a warrior who served four tours, not just once did he and his family surrender his freedom so he could go off and fight for our right to be free, but four times! This last time, he was injured so severely, there's no telling if even the folks at Walter Reed in DC (one of the nation's best facilities) can gather enough pieces of him to get him up and running once more. At this point, it'd be nice if he were simply up and breathing on his own.
Imagine this being the condition of your husband or son. Pretty trying on your nerves, right? Well, if you stop by One Marines View and read the comment thread, you'll see both ideas and addresses for how you can help. If you live close enough to DC, stop by and ask what you can do to help. Even giving his family 10 minutes headspace to leave the room and see the sunshine will help--but you can bet they're not leaving his side unless someone else comes by to hold down the fort. You can be that someone else, if you live close enough.
If you don't live close enough to go in person and volunteer to give his family a break by visiting with him, write a letter--to him, to his wife, to his mother. To anyone at Walter Reed (there's an address at One Marines View.
Don't like paper or haven't got any stamps? Really more into the online thing? No problem! Add a pointer from your blog to One Marines View and get the word out. Email your friends, mention it at work. Write to him, write to his wife, write to his mother.
Do whatever you can to spread the word--but do something.
You can also go visit a Military Hospital in your local area. This wounded soldier is far, far from the only one getting sent home this way. There's a WAR going on, in case you hadn't heard. Let's show our support by spending our own time and effort, not just the lives of the ones who put on the uniforms on our behalf.
I'm talking about wounded soldiers in case you can't guess. There are military personnel literally laying down their lives every single day so you and I can sit here in the free world and just read blogs, send emails, go to a safe job where we do all kinds of things that may threaten our patience but not our existence on this good Earth.
Then there are the warriors' families. They sacrifice, too. It's hard enough to send your spouse, sibling or child off to fight a war no one in the world seems to figure is worth fighting, but to have them come back broken into little pieces and be ignored is adding insult to the injury. So here's some accountability.
One Marines View has a description of a warrior who served four tours, not just once did he and his family surrender his freedom so he could go off and fight for our right to be free, but four times! This last time, he was injured so severely, there's no telling if even the folks at Walter Reed in DC (one of the nation's best facilities) can gather enough pieces of him to get him up and running once more. At this point, it'd be nice if he were simply up and breathing on his own.
Imagine this being the condition of your husband or son. Pretty trying on your nerves, right? Well, if you stop by One Marines View and read the comment thread, you'll see both ideas and addresses for how you can help. If you live close enough to DC, stop by and ask what you can do to help. Even giving his family 10 minutes headspace to leave the room and see the sunshine will help--but you can bet they're not leaving his side unless someone else comes by to hold down the fort. You can be that someone else, if you live close enough.
If you don't live close enough to go in person and volunteer to give his family a break by visiting with him, write a letter--to him, to his wife, to his mother. To anyone at Walter Reed (there's an address at One Marines View.
Don't like paper or haven't got any stamps? Really more into the online thing? No problem! Add a pointer from your blog to One Marines View and get the word out. Email your friends, mention it at work. Write to him, write to his wife, write to his mother.
Do whatever you can to spread the word--but do something.
You can also go visit a Military Hospital in your local area. This wounded soldier is far, far from the only one getting sent home this way. There's a WAR going on, in case you hadn't heard. Let's show our support by spending our own time and effort, not just the lives of the ones who put on the uniforms on our behalf.
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